


Scribbling strangers

by ahotep100



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-06 23:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 42
Words: 23,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8773078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahotep100/pseuds/ahotep100
Summary: Modern AU. This was inspired by a film found on Tumblr.Scribbling on a bench can show your soul.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea about police titles in Australia today, so I'm sticking with the ones from the series.  
> I have never been to Melbourne or Australia. The places are named after Google Maps. Jack works at South Melbourne Police Station, which I thought sounded most similar to City South.

Detective Inspector Jack Robinson had no idea what to do with the latest murder case. He had gone over every clue and possible scenarios at least ten times, but he could not find any decent solutions as to why the elder couple had been found strangled in their own home the week before. Just one little idea would make it feel all better, but he had absolutely nothing. He grabbed his coffee mug from the desk, but as he brought it up to his mouth, he realised it was empty. He sighed and put the mug back down on his desk.

"How's it going?" Hugh asked as he walked in and dropped a pile of case files on his desk.

"It's not", Jack sighed heavily. "What are those?"

"They are the files the Commisioner needed you to read through."

Sighing heavily again and widening his eyes to force back the tiredness. "I can't come up with anything for my own case and now they want me to check someone else's?"

Hugh didn't answer, only shrugged.

Muttering something about incompetence, Jack stood up from his chair, tucking it under his desk and picked up the top file. "I'm goin on my lunch break now. I'll see you later."

Days like these, Jack often wandered around in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. Being surrounded with nature in the middle of the city always did wonders for his thoughts. On the way there from the police station, he bought a coffee and a sandwich and headed straight for his favourite bench. It was situated in a secluded area of the gardens and had a beautiful view of the Ornamental Lake. 

He picked up the case files Hugh had handed to him and started reading through it, scribbling some thoughts here and there in the margin with the pen he had brought in between bites of the sandwich.

15 minutes later he snapped the file shut, rose from the bench and threw the paper from the sandwich and the paper coffee mug into the nearby garbage can in frustration. Getting back to the bench to pick up his file, he realised that while he had been reading and thinking, he had absentmindedly doodled onto the wood of the bench. He quickly looked around to see if someone had been watching him. The last thing he needed was for some one of his colleagues to have to arrest him for graffiting. He never did anything like this. He always tried to stick to the rules. He did not want to jeopardise his career. As a policeman he needed to be a good role model for the rest of society.

Once clearifying no one had seen him, he looked back at his doodling. It depicted a very sorry looking man sitting on a bench resting his elbow on his knee and his hand on his cheek. It was how he felt. Looking at his watch, he realised he needed to get back to the station. His lunch break was over.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't leave you with no Phryne.

She had arrived only yesterday and unfortunatelly, Mac had been forced to go into the hospital. Therefore, Phryne Fisher was left to fend for herself for the rest of the day. Mac's flat was situated in a really quiet neighbourhoood. Silence did not really sit well with Phryne. So she decided to take a walk through the city to see what had changed since the last time she had been here, ten years ago. It felt good to be back. She still had no idea what to do with her life, but at least she was out of her lousy father's house.

It was a rather beautiful day. She walked into the Royal Botanic Garden for awhile and walked around for awhile before sitting down on a bench looking out over the small lake. She had not decided if she wanted to stay in Melbourne yet. It still felt like home, but held many memories she still wished to leave behind. To many memories of Janey still lurked around in every shadows. She wondered if there was some way for her to find her this time. It had been 15 years after all. A lot had happened in that time.

Even if she decided not to stay in town, she knew she needed a place of her own as soon as possible. Martha and Mac would never throw her out, but because of them having just moved in together. She might not have any experience in the area of living together with a partner, but she understood as much as the first few months would be about adjusting to each other in a new way.

As she put her handbag down on the bench, she saw that someone had drawn on the wood beside her. The picture was of a rather miserable looking man. Who could have drawn it? She looked around as if she would see the artist. There were only a lady feeding a baby with a bottle and a a family with three children playing basket ball. Who was she kidding?! The drawing might be days old. It was unlikely that the person drawing it would be there. The man's sad facial expression tugged at her heart though. She took up a pen from her handbag and changed the man's face so it looked like he was smiling instead.

 _There!_ she thought to herself. Now it looked better. Now the man in the drawing looked happy. She smiled, content with her work.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack felt stressed out and decided to call it a day at the normal hour. Hugh seemed shocked as he watched him his boss and mentor leave office so early in the day. Jack usually was the last one to leave, long after himself. In fact, he could not remember one single day that Jack had left work this early. He knew the older police officers talked about Jack having been different before. He had not always been the quiet, dour Detective Inspector he was today. Hugh often wondered what had happened. When he thought about it, he knew very little about his boss and mentor. He understood it to be something about Jack's divorce a few years ago, but he did not dare to ask.

Because it was such a lovely day, Jack decided to go back to the Botanic Garden. Having sat inside all day, made him crave the outdoors. He bought a book, having just finished one last night and walked up to his favourite bench where he had spent his lunch.

As he sat down, he absentmindedly glanced beside him and the drawing caught his eyes. He had forgotten his rebellious, criminal act. But something was off. He distinctly remembered drawing a sad-looking man, but now the man was smiling. Jack suddenly felt somewhat offended by the remake. Someone had tampered with his drawing! He took out the pen he always kept in his coat pocket and drew a big rainy cloud above the man's head. He also changed the facial expression so the man again, looked sad. There was no way that this man would be happier than he was!

Proud of himself, he returned to his book for awhile before heading home to start dinner.

 

* * *

 

Phryne had spent the afternoon running through town shopping and was about to return to Mac and Martha's flat as she passed the entrance to the Botanic Garden. She remembered the drawing on the bench and suddenly felt a need to check on it again.

The garden was almost empty as for a couple of teenagers. It would soon be dark, but Phryne continued to the bench where she had seen the drawing. She sat down and had a look at it. It had changed! The man seemed miserable again and had now got a dark, rainy cloud above his head as well.  She smiled, shaking her head. This would not do! Again, she took out her pen from her handbag and corrected the drawing once more.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't sleep, so here's the next chapter.

Despite himself, Jack could not help but smile at the latest changes the other person had made to his drawing. He found it both annoying and intriguing that someone kept changing his criminal drawing. Was it the same person? He could not be sure, but he would like to think it was. He thought long and hard about what to draw in return. He checked that no one saw him. He still felt very uncomfortable about the whole drawing-on-a-public-bench-thing, but felt that he needed to do something about the, again happy looking man. Not coming up with anything, he simply wrote: _An umbrella? Why can you not let the man be sad?_ underneath the picture before heading back to the station after his lunch break.

* * *

Mac had been called into work again after them having spent the morning and lunch together, leaving Phryne on her own again. She had just bought a big, fancy house on the Esplanade and thought she might celebrate by going on another shopping trip around town. However, she found herself wandering into the botanic garden. Before she realised where she was heading, she found herself in front of the bench with the drawing from yesterday.

She sat down, reading the text underneath it and wondering for a bit what kind of person it was who had been doodling and writing on the bench. Was it the same one as had drawn the sad-looking man? Most clues pointed at that. Taking her pen from her handbag again, she wrote: _Why do you not want him to be happy? Everyone needs a happy ending._

* * *

Jack thought long and hard what to write back to the stranger on the bench. After being a police man for nearly ten years, he knew all too well that not every story had a happy ending. In fact a lot of them ended pretty miserably. Even his own. His thoughts wandered to his ex-wife. It was not her fault that the cases had changed him so much. They had probably been too young when they married. They were both 22 years old and he was fresh out of the Police Academy at the time. Rosie had been a good wife, but neither of them knew much about life at their wedding day. It was probably his fault that it had all gone downhill. He had probably pushed her away. On the bench he simply wrote: _Not every story has one._

* * *

The latest message on the bench got Phryne thinking. Her stranger did not seem particularly happy. She hoped that he or she just had had a bad day. She wrote: _I am all too familiar with that. But that does not mean you have to stop wishing for one._


	5. Chapter 5

Never would Jack have thought that he would enjoy having a conversation with a complete stranger so much, but in the last couple of days he had found himself longing to go to the bench to continue the discussion. Rushing out as soon as the clock showed him it was time for lunch. He wondered a lot about his stranger. Could he call the person his? The stranger. Thinking it had got a bit too personal, he had tried steering the conversation back to the man in his drawing. The conversation had gone like this:

_He clearly wants to be sad._

_Can you not give the man a break?_

_Leave my doodle alone!_

_Why? He needs to cheer up._

_No. He is perfectly fine._

He had stayed a bit too long today and was now late for his meeting with his boss. His phone beeped indicating he had a text message. Probably the commissioner reminding him he was late. He looked down at his phone and didn't notice where he was going and walked straight into a woman at the entrance to the botanic garden. 

"Oh! I'm so sorry Miss!" he exclaimed apologitically. "I should have been watching where I went instead of my phone."

"Oh! You don't have to apologize", the woman answered. "We can all be absentminded from time to time. "

He stretched out a hand and helped her up. She was extremely beautiful with short, dark hair and red lips that seemed to scream at him to kiss them. As she brushed down her dark blue dress, he realised she probably belonged the richer part of town. Her dress must cost more than he earned in a month. Her green eyes met his blue and seemed to bore into him. He suddenly lost all ability to speak. There was a sparkle in them that shone with mischeif that he would not have expected from a woman dressed as her.

"I... I... have to go", he finally managed to stutter and quickly released the woman's hand he had forgotten he still held in his. "I'm late for a meeting. I'm really sorry."

Embarrassed by the whole situation and his reaction to the woman, he almost ran back to the station. If he hadn't he might have seen that the women headed straight for the bench where he had just sat.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the very positive response to this!  
> I have a lot of ideas for where to take it, but I might not be able to upload 2 chapters a day all the time.   
> And remember that just because they have now met, does not mean that they know each other.

Phryne put down her handbag at the bench and took a moment to collect herself. The man who had ran into her was very handsome. She looked down at the hand he had held for longer than strictly necessary. He had seemed shocked by her presence. She could see him struggling to find words. Maybe she was over-thinking it all. Maybe he was just caught by surprise by them bumping into each other. He had been extremely properly dressed in a grey suit and tie and she thought he must be a lawyer or any type of buisness man. Who else wore a suit on a day like this? Or maybe he was just heading for some kind of buisness meeting or important event of some kind? The waistcoat she had seen peeking out from underneath the jacket might be a bit out of date, but he looked handsome and proper, not one strand of his light brown hair was out of place and she was already trying to imagine what he might look like without any clothes on. She would definitely like to take him to bed. He had not even given her an opportunity to collect herself properly. It was not often that men overwhelmed her.

She supposed it must have to do with her being knocked off the ground. She shook her head as if that would help to shake the man out of her head and looked down on the bench. She smiled as she saw that the stranger had written a reply. She had come to enjoy "talking" to this person through the bench for the last couple of days. It did make her somewhat distracted though. She had spent almost all of dinner with Mac and Martha last night thinking about the bench conversation. Mac, realising she was not entirely with them, had enquired after her thoughts. She had said she had a lot to think about for her new house. After all, she would be moving in in two days. She had called the taxi chauffeurs that had picked her up from the air port. They seemed nice and had promised to help her. Their street smarts would probably come in handy for getting to know Melbourne again she thought. She had also hired a butler who convinently was called Mr Butler to help her take care of the house. It would take her somewhat longer to reach the botanic garden, but she realised she did not want to give up her sort-of-newfound-friendship with the person on the bench.

She wrote:

_No one who is clearly miserable can be fine._


	7. Chapter 7

Was the stranger teasing him? It seemed like it. Surprisingly too, hefound himself enjoying it immensely.  Like he had done these past couple of days, he had rushed out to the bench as soon as his lunch hour started. What could he write in response? 

_But sometimes you just want to be sad._

* * *

The response tugged a bit at Phryne's heart. The stranger still did not seem particularly happy. She wanted to cheer him up. Or her? She had got the feeling that the stranger was a man, but she might have mistaken. In any case, she decided it was time to not beat about the bush anymore:

_It sounds like you talk from experience._

* * *

Jack blinked a few times. What should he write? Should be be honest? It was a complete stranger and the place was public. Anyone could read the conversation he was having with this complete stranger. That meant anyone could read it if he chose to bare his soul.  But no one would know if it was him. He had been careful and only written on the bench when he could be sure no one was watching. He settled on the half vague response:

_Maybe I am._

* * *

Phryne wondered how to interpret the latest answer to the conversation on the bench. The stranger definitely seemed sad, but the answer was very vague. Maybe he was not comfortable with the setting? Or she! She had to remind herself that it might not be a man she was writing to.

She wrote:

_Are you sad right now?_

* * *

During lunch next day, Jack answered:

_I think so._


	8. Chapter 8

Seeing the stranger's latest message, dampered Phryne's mood. She had hoped the stranger would say that he (or she, she reminded herself), would say that he or she was happy and that she had made a mistake.

She wrote: " _Can I help in some way?"_ before heading back to Mac and Martha's. Oh how great it will be to move into her own place soon!

She knew she had been distracted when the three girls went bowling. She knew she probably should leave it and wait for the stranger's answer, but somehow she could not stand the fact that this stranger was sad. Was he or she lonely? Had something happend? She had not told anyone about the bench conversation. When she thought about it, it seemed quite out of character for her. She usually told Mac anything. But the conversation felt private. Strange, considering it was in a very public place and literally anyone could see it.

When she thought about it, she realised that the stranger's answer usually came around lunch time each day (She might have checked more than once over the course of the day...). Perhaps he or she did not live close by, but worked in the neighbourhood. Maybe she could go there a bit earlier and meet him or her.

* * *

This was not a good day! Jack had been forced into a lunch meeting with the Commissioner, meaning he was not able to go to the botanic garden. He tries to not show his frustration. How could he really explain it? " _No Sir, I cannot be in this meeting with you right now since I need to go scribbling on a bench in the Botanic Garden where I have had a conversation with a complete stranger for the last few days._ " Yes, that would not sound weird at all. Probably it would also lead to him having to arrest himself for graffiting as well.

* * *

Phryne, book in hand, sat herself down at a nearby bench where she could see the bench with the drawing and conversation and waited. When she checked, there had been no response to her latest addition to the conversation. She could not have missed the stranger. 

Suddenly a young innocent-looking woman (Phryne estimated her age to be about 20.) sat down. She had long, wavy dark-blonde hair that was bond into a pony tail and she was dressed in a peach blouse and jeans. The girl suddenly noticed the scribblings and started to read. Phryne's heart skipped a beat. Was this the mysterious stranger? She had thought it to be a man. Well, if this girl was unhappy and needed someone to talk to, she would of course offer a shoulder to cry on. 

As she watched the girl read through the conversation, Phryne could not see any sign of recognition. Perhaps this was not the stranger. But Phryne thought she looked pretty miserable. There was no reason for why she could not cheer this girl up as well. She could meet her stranger some other day.

She put the book in her handbag and walked over to the girl.

"Hello!" she said with a warm smile. "I'm Phryne Fisher."

"I'm Dorothy Williams", the girl said, looking up at her shyly.

"Excuse me for saying this, but you look pretty sad. Has something bad happened?"

The girl just nodded.

"Would you care to join me for a cup of coffee?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad you enjoyed the introduction of Dot. I'm going to take some liberties with her backstory in this. She's still her wonderful Catholic self though.
> 
> And for this chapter. I have understood that there is some kind of café in the Royal Botanic Garden of Melbourne. However I'm probably taking some liberties as to what they serve and I will not name it to the real name. (Actually the whole experience of the botanical garden in this fic is probably more based off of the one in Uppsala in Sweden which is the one I have most experience from myself.)

Phryne took an extremely reluctant Dorothy Williams to a café in the botanic garden.

After having ordered for both herself and Dot, Phryne found a free table in a more secluded area of the café and led Dorothy there before placing the tray on the table and sitting down on the closest chair. Dorothy remained standing. She didn't seem to know what to think about Phryne. 

"Come on Dorothy!" Phryne said gently, indicating the vacant chair across the table with her hand before taking a bite out of her chocolate cake. "Sit down, have some chocolate cake and tell me everything!"

The nervousness radiated off of the girl as she sat down, facing Phryne. 

"Most people call me Dot", she said shyly, looking down at the table.

"Okay Dot", Phryne said warmly, smiling at the girl. "You looked so miserable. Have something happened to you?"

The girl shrugged, seemingly reluctant to tell her.

"I can't help you if you won't tell me the truth", Phryne tried calmly.

"I've been working as a secretary for John Andrews for the last six months."

"And who is that?"

"He is professor of history at the university. At first everything was fine, but when his wife Lydia suddenly wanted a divorce, he got creepy."

"Creepy how?"

"He started running after pretty much every woman on campus wanting them to have sex with him. I have told him no many times, but..."

"He hasn't forced himself onto you?"

"No! Nothing like that. But he turned everyone against me and then he fired me the other day without giving any reason. Then my mother found out I have started seeing this boy named Hugh and she is not pleased with it so she threw me out."

"Why did your mother felt a need to throw you out because of Hugh? Does she think he's not good enough for you?"

"No, she's a devoted Catholic and Hugh is a protestant. She wants me to meet a good Catholic boy instead, but I told her I couldn't. I love Hugh!"

Phryne's head was spinning with everything that was suddenly flowing out of Dot. She certainly had had her share of bad luck.

"You know what", she said to the girl who had now started to cry. "I'm going to see my new house today. My friends Bert and Cec is helping me move in. If you like it, you can stay with me. I don't really know what to do with my life yet, but I might be in need of a secretary."

"Oh!" Dot exclaimed shaking her head. "That's too much miss!"

"Call me Phryne and no it isn't. Us girls in the big city need to stick together. Let's finish this and then go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I can promise you updates every day for the upcoming week. I have a deadline for an article and needs to spend some quality time with the Vikings.


	10. Chapter 10

Detective Inspector Jack Robinson felt restless and irritated. The meeting with his boss had gone on for hours. The fact that he was not able to take his lunch at the park bench really disturbed him. He was so curious if the stranger had left a reply. Would he or she feel betrayed that he had not answered during his lunch? No, there was no way for the stranger to know when he was there. Unless the stranger had been checking the bench many times a day. That would seem a bit desperate, wouldn't it? ... Although if he was being honest with himself, that was exactly what he, himself really wanted to be able to do.

It had been so long since he felt connected to another human being. So long since he had had a meaningful conversation about something other than work-related matters. Maybe this was why he felt he could be open with the stranger on the bench. It was not really like him at all. A park bench was an extremely public place and he had never really felt comfortable letting people into his most private parts. Especially not after that particular case with the slaughtered family... Even now so many years and hours in therapy later, he still had trouble even thinking about it.

Reaching the bench, he realised that there was an answer from the stranger: " _Can I help in some way?"_ He was sure his heart jumped in his chest. Was the stranger being serious? He looked around, even though he knew it was unlikely that the stranger would be lurking around. What should he answer? It felt like he wanted to tell this person everything about himself, which he realised was frightening. He wrote:

_You're a complete stranger._

He then left the bench to go home. It was unlikely that he was ever going to meet this person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was short, but the Vikings raided my brain a bit too much.  
> Happy Holidays wherever you are and whenever and however you celebrate! (I celebrate tomorrow - the 24th.)


	11. Chapter 11

Bert and Cec, the two taxi drivers Phryne had met on her journey from the airport to Mac and Martha's house when she first arrived, turned out to be excellent movers. They were a bit radical politically, but Phryne really liked them. They would probably turn out to be excellent help getting to know the town again. They had helped her picking up all the furnitures she had ordered and had helped Dot move her things from her friend Alice's small flat where she had stayed the last few days. The young woman was still very shy, but Phryne was sure she would be able to drag her out with time.

She realised she needed to hire a butler to keep up the house work. Someone who could put up with her ways and would not judge her like her parents's back in England so often did. Someone who could cook and clean and tend to her needs, but who would know when not to interfer in her life. She was sure Dot would be able to do that, but she did not want to bother the young woman with that. She had decided that the two of them would face down this horrible John Andrews person together.

She had not forgot her bench conversation. She just had not had time to visit the botanic garden yet today.

 

* * *

 

Jack had had a pretty quiet morning. There were no new murder cases, so he and Hugh spent a lot of time trying to solve old unsolved ones. He had no idea what to make out of the murder of Mr William McNaughton. The man had been found dead in his own backyard. Killed by a blow to his head. The case had been handled by Detective Inspector Benton. Jack sighed. Not him again! That man was a clear idiot and Jack had a big problem understanding how he could have risen to the rank of Detective Inspector. Maybe he slept with the Commisioner? Jack smiled at the absurd thought. He always made up a theory pretty much directly and refused to back down from it even though the evidences pointed in another direction. Jack shook his head at the mere thought of how many innocent people could have been placed in prison because of that man.

Mr McNaughton had been a pretty nasty man. He had a bad temper and as it had turned out, had abused both his wife and daughter. The only possible suspect, according to Benton, was the son Bill. Bill had been charged with the murder of his father, but had been released after the trial because. As the lawyer Jillian Henderson had pointed out, there was nothing that clearly bound Bill to the murder. Jack liked Jillian Henderson. She was the most competent among the lawyers of Melbourne with a good sense of justice. She did not think of her work mainly as a mean to get money. She really believed in helping people out.

A little earlier than usual, he slipped out for lunch. Hugh had enquired where he was off to. Was it because he noticed that he was excited aout going to the bench? No, he could not possibly know anything about it. Jack still felt a little weird about the whole situation. Not least since it was a criminal act to scribble on public property, but he could not stop himself. The stranger intrigued him. He had not felt this way in such a long time. The stranger seemed to want him to be happy, but not in a "forget all your sorrows immidiately"-kind of way, but in a "I'm here to listen to you to make you happy"-kind of way. At least that was how he hoped it was. It felt like such a long time since someone had done so. Well, his psychologist did, but this was someone else. Someone outside of an office. Someone he did not really know. Someone who did not really know him. Thinking about it, made it all scary. Still, his heart fell apart in thousands of pieces, when he reached the bench and there was no reply...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will never turn into a case fic, **but** from time to time I will mention cases from both the TV and the book series.


	12. Chapter 12

Phryne smiled as she looked down at the reply to her latest question on the bench. She wrote:

_Yes, isn't this all very exciting?!_

She decided to try again to meet this stranger tomorrow, but now she really needed to handle Dot's situation at the university.

 

* * *

 

Jack had had a hard time getting to sleep the night before. He wondered what could have happened to the stranger. It was probably ridiculous, but he had really enjoyed writing to this stranger on the bench. That was weird was it not? That he cared so much that a complete stranger had not written a reply to him. Perhaps the stranger had just been busy. Not everyone did go to the botanic garden every day after all. Yes, that was probably the reason... But the stranger had been there every day hitherto.

"Sir", Collins sounded stressed from behind as he walked into his office. "A professor at the university has been found dead in his office this morning."

He sighed. Here we go again.

"Ok, we go immediately", he said, turning around and headed for the garage with Hugh hurriedly trying to catch up behind him.

"Do we know anything about him?" asked Jack as he drove toward the university.

"Yes Sir", Hugh answered. "His name was John Andrews and he was professor of history. He does not seem to have been popular. There are a couple of reports about sexual assults on him."

Jack sighed. Why could some men never realise sex was not something they were entitled to just because they held a poaition of power?

 

* * *

 

When Phryne and Dot arrived at the university they were met by a police cars. 

"I wonder what's happened", Phryne said in a curious voice. She got no response other than a small cry of joy from Dot as she laid eyes on the policeman standing guard by the entrance. Dot immediately left her side and ran up to the policeman.  


Phryne, not knowing what to think, walked up to them.

"Oh Phryne, this is my boyfriend Hugh", Dot said, blushing a little. Probably realising her behaviour. Phryne only smiled, amused that the girl had a spontaneous side after all.

"Happy to meet you Hugh", Phryne smiled at the policeman. "Dot has told me so much about you."

"What are you doing here Hugh?" asked Dot.

"Oh, one of the professors has been found dead in his office", Hugh said.

"Who?"

"I don't know if the Inspector wants me to tell you."  


"Oh please Hugh. It might be someone I knew."

"John Andrews."

Dot's eyes became wide and Phryne heard her draw in a deep breathe.

"That's... that's my former boss Hugh."

"It is?"

"Hugh Collins, have you not listened to anything I've said?"

As Dot got angry at her boyfriend, Phryne saw an opportunity to sneak into the university building. It did not take her long to find the history departement.

John Andrews's office was empty. Apparently, they had just taken away the body. She looked around.

"Excuse me!" said a voice behind her. "This is a scene of a possible crime. I must ask you to leave."

She turned around. Surprised to see the man who bumped into her in the botanic garden just the other day, stand in the doorway. 


	13. Chapter 13

Jack lost his train of thought and speech as he realised the woman standing in the middle of his potential crime scene was the same as the one he had bumped into the other day. Before he could gather any coherent thought, the woman had adjusted her handbag and stretched out her hand.

"I'm Phryne Fisher", she said with a warm smile. "We didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves the last time me met."

"I must ask you too live Mrs Fisher", he said trying to sound stern. He did not want to be reminded of that incident. She had popped into his head far more times than he cared to admit even to himself these last few days and had not counted on meeting her again.

"It's actually **Miss** Fisher", the woman emphasized miss in a way that made him realize it was important to her. "But you can call me Phryne... and this is actually the time when you are supposed to say your name."

"I'm Detective Inspector Jack Robinson and I still wonder what you are doing in a potential crime scene."

"Oh, I was just going to help my friend Dot out of some difficulties with her former boss, but he turned out to be dead before we arrived. Based on the fact that I can't see any blood in here, I don't think he was hit to death. Perhaps it was something he ate or drank. He might have been poisoned."

Jack felt perplexed. This woman felt unreal. Was she really just coming in here commandeering his potential murder case?

 

* * *

 

 

Phryne felt elated to finally have a name to that gorgeous face: _Jack Robinson_. She had thought about him from time to time. He seemed stiff and stern and very reluctant to let her stay there. Still, something in his greenish-blue eyes made her curious about him. There was something beyond the stiff façade. So much was clear.

"The autopsy should tell us the cause of death", he said, still stern. He had a smooth voice, which Phryne thought sounded rather sexy. "Look, Miss Fisher, I appreciate your curiousity for crime, but please will you leave my crime scene so I can work."

"Maybe I can help", she smiled, trying not to sound too seductively. She knew she had a tendency to do that among men, but had a feeling this man would not appreciate it during the current circumstances.

"I assume you weren't close to the deseased."

"Never had the pleasure. But Dot tells me he was quite a jerk, so I'm guessing he has a lot of enemies. He was also going through a rather nasty divorce."

"How come you know so much about him if you have never met him?"

"He was Dot's former boss of course!"

"And who is Dot?"

"My assistant and your contables girlfriend."

"So this Dot-person might be a suspect?"

"No!" she almost yelled. Appalled by the mere thought of accusing Dot. "She wouldn't hurt a fly. Besides, she has been at my house the entire morning. She can't have done it. But I suggest you look into all the women he has harrassed. They might know something."

"Thank you Miss Fisher!" the Inspector sighed heavily and this time she willingly let him guide her out of the office.


	14. Chapter 14

She was basically everywhere. It started to get annoying. Not that it was not already quite annoying when she first turned up in professor John Andrews's office. He could not work with her hovering over him. Could not think. He realised already from the start that she was trying to flirt with him to get information about the case, but he had seen through it. Unfortunately, Collins had not...

She had apparently decided on the spot to become a private detective. She said she had been thinking about what she would do with her life since she arrived from England about a week or so ago. He snorted. A self-styled and completely untrained socialite with too much spare time was the last one he needed to be meddling in his murder cases. She was extremely beautiful and seemed nice, but what could someone like her know about crime? She was probably born with a silver spoon in her mouth. No, not just one spoon! More likely an entire cutlery tray! The worst thing was that she seemed too interested in him as a person!

He had decided though that he would not give in to her ways. Here in his office was safe. There was no way she eould be able to infiltrate the police station!

"Hello Inspector!" He groaned internally as she threw open the door to his office without knocking and filled it with her cheerful voice.

"Miss Fisher..." he tried, but to no avail.

"I brought us lunch", she smiled warmly, putting down a brown paper bag from his favourite sandwich place on his desk and jumped up, placing herself beside it.

"There is a perfectly comfortable chair over there Miss Fisher", he said, nodding to the visitor's chair on the other side of his desk. "And how did you get in?"

"Oh, me and Dot was going to buy Hugh lunch and thought you might like some as well." She totally ignored his nudge about the chair, but started to unpack the bag.

"Thank you Miss Fisher, but it really wasn't necessary."

"But I bought your favourite! Ham, cheese and mustard pickle... At least Hugh thought that was your favourite. He said you always picked that one when you were having lunch together."

He just stared at her. That was actually rather considerate. He did love those sandwiches! No! He would **not** give in to her even though she wavered the sandwich practically under his nose. And what reason could he really give her? _No, I cannot eat the sandwich, because I need to go mourn the loss of a conversation with a complete stranger at a park bench in the botanic garden._ That would not do at all!

She opened the sandwich for him and handed it over. He took a deep breath before decided to take it. She smiled warmly at him, opening the wrapping of her own.

 


	15. Chapter 15

Phryne smiled as he watched him eat the sandwich she had brought. He was really rather handsome, but still very reserved inspite of her going out of her way to draw him out of his shell. He seemed annoyed, but mostly uncomfortable by her presence. Even though he did not seem to be falling for her charm like most other men did, she had decided to like him. He had probably not liked the fact that she hopped up, sitting on his desk rather close to him. She however, found herself enjoying being in his presence.

"Have you got any results back that determine how John Andrews died?" she tried, feeling a little bit unhappy with the silence surronding them. She had never liked silence and this one felt a bit uncomfortable.

He looked up at her with his greenish-blue eyes, swallowing a piece of sandwich before speaking.

"Yes, it seems like he was poisoned with arsenic. They found it in his coffee cup."

He again turned his look down towards the sandwich to take another bite.

"Well, that can be rather tricky", she smiled. "Anyone could have slipped something into his cup without being in the room with him as he died."

"I know."

A short answer and he did not even look at her as he said it. She sighed. This was trickier than she thought. Usually men tended to fall for her charm straight away. She smiled. She loved a challenge!

As if reading her thoughts he looked up at her and their eyes met. Yes. He was indeed very handsome.

 

* * *

 

As Jack sat there eating his sandwich, he found himself also starting to enjoy the company of the lady currently sitting on his desk. 

Miss Fisher had put the sandwich bag on the floor and now stretched across the desk. He did not do anything when she grabbed the case file from its placement in front of him and started going over it. One of her eyebrows rose as if questioning him if he was going to hinder her. He met her emerald green eyes, nodding in encouragement for her to go ahead.  She smiled in a surprised thank you and he nodded once more in acknowledgment. She was not so bad after all...


	16. Chapter 16

He almost ran towards the bench after his shift was finished before she would get a chance to stop him. He had to admit that part of his first judgement of her had been wrong. She was far more intelligent, compassionate and empathetic than he had thought. She had sensed his uncomfort with her flirting and had toned it down. It was still present, but in a way that did not make him feel trapped inside her net. She was so vibrant. So energetic. So beautiful. But she still forced herself onto him. She was far too interested in him as a person and far too straight-forward. It could cause trouble both in his work and personal life. Jack had a strict rule of never letting one interfering with the other and he had a feeling that Miss Fisher would force herself into both despite any resistence he might make.

He had no hope to find any reply on the bench. He really had no clue as to what he was doing going there again. He just wanted to feel close to his stranger. With a sigh, he sat down, looking at the conversation. His heart stopped! There was an answer! _Yes, isn't this all very exciting?!_

His heart jumped in his chest. The stranger had not forgotten! The stranger still wanted to talk to him! His or her positivity was not really something that bothered him so much any more. He or she still wanted to talk to him! He took a deep breath before writing an answer.

* * *

 

The Inspector had totally disappeared. She had looked everywhere for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Hugh had told her, he had probably gone home for the day and he had refused to give her his phone number.

She sighed. She just wanted to ask him to dinner. They had worked hard after all. The interview with the ex-wife that afternoon had been interesting. It turns out that Lydia Andrews in the end had not want to leave her husband and John and her had after some thoughts reconsiled. It had been a lot of crying and emotions, but Phryne had the idea that she was not such a weak-minded woman as she let on. She wondered what married life was like if he started running after all the other women Dot said that he did.

She wondered where the Inspector lived. If he had any family. Hugh had said that he generally kept to himself. That he had been married to the Deputy Commisioner's daughter, but that they had got divorced only a couple of months before. The pretty constable had not seemed confident talking about his boss and she had had to drag what little information about the mysterious man out of him.

Well, he would be back at the station tomorrow. For now, she could walk to the botanic garden to see if the other mysterious person in her life had answered her latest addition. She hoped he or she had not been disappointed when she did not have time to come to write back yesterday.

The botanic garden was only a short distance from the police station and it did not take her long to reach the bench. There was an answer: _I think that is why I feel like I can talk to you._

She smiled. She had realised already that the stranger was probably shy as well as sad. She wanted to talk more to him or her, but how to do so if someone would notice all the scribbles they had made on the bench and take it away?

After having thought for awhile she realised she could make a secret email account and tell the stranger to do the same. That way, they could continue to talk without giving their identities away completely. She took up her mobile and it didn't take long for her to create the email **scribblingstranger1@hotmail.com**. On the bench she wrote: _I've created an emailadress with an anonymous identity if you feel that is easier. Feel free to do the same and we can still be strangers and talk longer._

Then she wrote the email address bellow it, before she rose to return home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day?! Yes, It's been really cold outside these last two days (About -20C) so I've been stuck inside and I had nothing else to do but write.


	17. Chapter 17

He heard her high-heeled shoes long before she and Miss Williams turned up in the doorway of his office. Of course they would use Collins to sneak into the station again! he thought.

The man in question arrived a few minutes later. He was a little out of breath and Jack suspected he had dressed in his uniform in a hurry. 

"Good that you are here" Jack stated. "I would like to ask Miss Williams a few questions."

"Dotty wouln't hurt a fly Sir!" Collins got all defensive, taking his girlfriend's hand. "You don't seriously suspect her of murder?!"

"Actually, I was studiously avoiding that term Colins", Jack answered, a little more irritated than was probably necessary. The frightened look on the girl's entire feature, made him retreat. With a sigh and as gently a smile as he could manage, he added: "Not to worry Miss Williams. I don't think you're guilty. I just want you to tell me about John Andrews and your dealings with him."

The uoung girl looked even more frightened than before and Collins yook her in his arms.

"Perhaps you would be more comfortable doing an interview with the Inspector at our house Dot?" Miss Fisher suggested and Miss Williams nodded slowly into Collins shoulder.

Jack did not know what to say or do. It would be a little out of protocol, but one look at Miss Williams made him realize he had to agree. 

"OK", he sighed, defeated again by the woman who had so suddenly stormed into his life, messing it up completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About my Viking article. The editor also thought it was too harsh, so I'm getting another one.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words seem to be so empty sometmes, but I am absolutely terrified but what has happened in Melbourne today (20th of January 2017). I hope you are all safe. Writing about a policeman in Melbourne seems a bit weird right now even though it is Jack and I am sure he would have handled the situation in the best way possible. To give him a break, this chapter will mostly be about Dot.  
> I also want to say that I also feel bad for the man being killed by a crocodile in Australia the Swedish media also covered.  
> Stay safe!

Hugh helped Dot sit down on the couch in Phryne's parlour before sitting down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders. Jack and Phryne took place in the two armchairs opposite the couch.

"Miss Williams", Jack inquired in the softest voice he could manage. "Would you please tell me of your dealings with Mr Andrews. How did he behave towards you?"

"He was all hands and tried to pin me against his desk and have his way in his office", Dot said, sounding terrified at revealing herself in front of them.

"Did he...?" Jack could not get out the word he thought.

"Oh no! I fought against him and then I was lucky, because someone came in before he could... finish."

"After that he turned cold towards me. I took a course about Vikings and we were supposed to end it with a seminar where we made presentations on our own projects. I don't like talking in front of others and I knew I had some oppinions that Mr Andrews wouldn't like. But I had nothing else to say on the subject so I felt forced to go through with it."

Dot took a deep breath, blinking away tears and Hugh took her hand in his and brought it up to his mouth for a kiss.

"What happened?" Jack said.

"He didn't let me finish", Dot said, one perfect tear escaping her hazel eye. "At first he didn't want me to give a presentation at all, so he kept bringing up others and then at the end he was forced to let me talk and... and... and..."

This was too much for Dot and she burst into tears.

"Oh Dot!" Phryne exclaimed, rising and making her way over to the younger woman, sitting down in the empty seat next to her and she and Hugh together held the girl as she cried.

Jack felt very out of place. It was evident that it cost Miss Williams a lot in revealing her story. He always tried to comfort the people he interviewed, but he often got the feeling that he was rather terrible at it.

"Miss Williams..." he said as the girl had calmed down a little. "I am really sorry. Perhaps we should continue at some other..."

"No, I want to tell you!" the girl sounded firm. She gulped back the tears that Jack understood was still forming in her throat. "When I had talked for about a minute, he said the time had run out and I had to stop because the other historians he had invited from Sydney needed to catch the flight home. I felt so humiliated. I had prepared that speach for over a week and that was how he treated me. I tried to tell the dean, telling him everything Mr Andrews had done to me. I also told him that the girls in the undergraduate classes, Mr Andrews used to sleep with, got benefits that might not be entirly according to protocol. Among other things this girl named Hannah who used to be my friend got to be a teacher at one of his courses and he also brought her along as a teacher on the trip the first years traditionally make each year."

"How did the dean react to this?" Jack said. He felt very confused and had a sense of disbelief for the entire story. Was this really going on at a university in the 21th century?! But Miss Williams did not seem to be a liar and her emotional break-down also indicated that this was what had happened.

"Not good Sir", Dot answered. She looked straight into Jack's eyes and saw that he believed her. He seemed a bit confused and overwhelmed by her story, but he believed her! She looked up at Hugh and then turned to Phryne. They all believed her!

"The dean called to a meeting with me, the girls Mr Andrews slept around with and this other girl who I had discussed matters with."

"Not Mr Andrews?" asked Phryne.

"No miss! He was apparently not the problem according to the university.The problem was all between me and those other girls."

"What happened?" Jack asked sensing he could guess parts of the outcome of it since the girl was sitting in front of him, clearly very upset.

"They all hated me", Dot said, tears again beginning to fall down her cheeks. "Isabella, the researcher I had been discussing the whole thing with, turned her back on me. She said I had walked around saying mean things about the girls and when I tried to say that we had discussed it, she denied it entirely. The dean didn't say anything until the end when he proclaimed that I had misunderstood the entire situation. I tried to argue with that a bit, telling him everything that Mr Andrews had said to me."

"What did he say to that?"

"That it might have been how Mr Andrews said them, but probably not how he meant it. After that meeting, I got fired... Perhaps I should have given into him..."

"NO DOT!" Phryne almost yelled. "Never think that! This was **not** your fault. It was extremely unfair and reeks of bullying, misuse of power and sexism."

"I didn't kill him Inspector!" Dot met Jack's eyes again and pleaded with him. "I didn't like him, but I didn't kill him!"

"I know that Dot", Jack sighed. "I know that."


	19. Chapter 19

Jack left the ladies and Hugh at Miss Fisher's house to return to the station. Miss Williams's story was rather tragic. In his view, she had done nothing wrong and she still ended up as the scapegoat of the whole affair.

He sat down on his usual bench in the botanic garden with a sigh. He looked down and found an answer from his stranger waiting for him. _I've created an emailadress with an anonymous identity if you feel that is easier. Feel free to do the same and we can still be strangers and talk longer._

His heart made a jump in his chest. The stranger was offering him another, more private (and legal) way of communicating while still keep their identities secret. He was at a loss as for what to do. He had no paper to write down the email address the stranger had included. Digging through the pockets of his trench coat, he found a pen and quickly scribbled the address down on the backside of his hand.

* * *

 

Phryne and Hugh had both tried to calm a rather hysterical Dot and now they sat down having ice cream in the dining room. Dot was still sniffling a little and her eyes were red and puffy, but she seemed much happier again.

The Inspector had refused to stay and Phryne thought he might have been uncomfortable by Dot's story. He seemed kind and generous, but not the one to be dealing good when faced with too much feelings. She found herself thinking it would have been great if he had stayed. He was a very interesting man. When she tried flirting with him, he had seemed very uncomfortable. She could clearly see that he was not indifferent towards her. Add that to him having been in a heterosexual marriage before and she drew the conclusion that he could not be gay. No, he seemed more shy and introvert. There was a sadness to him, but it was not something that intimidated her. More fascinated. After the lunch they had shared, he seemed to relax a bit and be more open towards her. Phryne shook her head a little. She normally did not spend this much time thinking about men. She certainly had not thought so much about Hugh and she had known him just as long. Looking over at him sitting besides Dot, holding a protective arm around her shoulders while trying to eat his ice cream from a bowl that was slipping around on the table. He was a very sweet boy and perfect for Dot, but she could read him like an open book. The Inspector on the other had was much more difficult to read. But she vowed to herself to find a way into him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As my story is so much tied to the place, I smiled a little as I saw on his Instagram account that Nathan Page would do a high tea in the Royal Botanic Garden in Melbourne on the 4 of March. It's not the first time for this last year (I found MFMM through Essie at the end of February 2016.) that I've wished I wasn't on the other side of the world...


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just have to ask this: Is there any real interest in this story anymore?

Jack had sat down at his desk. He had eaten a sandwich and it was still his lunch hour, but using the station's computer for personal matters was something he was rather uncomfortable with. But he felt he needed to say some things. He had done as the stranger had told him and created an email address which he had made totally secret. He was glad the other person had let him continue with the anonymity while providing another, more private, way of communicating.

He glanced at the door. He did not want anyone to disturb him and he had a feeling the peace would could be broken by Miss Fisher at any moment.

He knew he could not betray Miss William's trust, but he might be able to talk to the stranger using vague description of the story. He drew in a deep breath and started writing a new email to the stranger.

_Hello,_

_I fixed an anonymous email account like you said in your last message on the bench. I just heard this tragic story where a girl was treated very bad by a man and I cannot seem to shake it. To top it off the man is dead, so he cannot be held responsible for his actions. I really have no idea how to comfort someone in that situation and I meet a lot of people in my job. This particular girl have some good friends though I think, so I hope she will be fine.  
_

His hand loomed over the send button for far longer than was normal until the sudden opening of his office door had him push the send button in frightened surprise. He sighed as he saw Miss Fisher striding into his office and quickly shut the internet window down. She was the last person he wished to show his private correspondence with.

"Did you hear there will be a memorial service to John Andrews at the university tomorrow?" she asked, sounding appalled by the idea.

"Yes, I'm going to attend it", he said, quickly checking he only had the desktop open in case she looked at his computer screen.

"Well, isn't it very disgusting?! This man was a creep and the university decides to honour him while Dot is in my house crying her eyes out because of how creepy he is."

"The man was killed..."

"Yes, but it doesn't mean he was a good guy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm using hotmail since that was where I had my first email address.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I think the declining interest must have been my imagination... Thank you so much! ♥ I just haven't heard from so many in what felt like a long time. I don't expect you to comment on every chapter (I really appreciate the ones who do, Quiltingmom and Bijoux53. ♥) but lately I feel like I post and no one's reading. I have felt very insecure about my writing lately. I'm having problems with the one I do in my professional life at the moment. I am kind of having a writer's block and writing this is my way to write myself out of it. (I'm almost finished with the handwritten sketch version of it.) This is the reason for the short chapters at the moment. I hope to improve it with time.

Phryne felt a little giddy as she walked up the steps to the main university building the next evening. She had met up with the Inspector at the parking lot as she had locked her dark grey and red car. The Inspecter kept his hands in the pockets of his light grey trench coat and she had locked her arm in his. She could feel him tense up, but he does not let her arm go. They have not said one word to each other except "Hello", but here they were walking side by side, linked together by their arms. She glanced up at him. His jaw was clenched. His face unreadable. Not for the first time did she wonder what he might be thinking. He certainly was very handsome. She would love to bed him, but she had come to understand that he was not a one-night-kind-of-man. In fact, he seemed almost impossible to woo. Her charms seemed to not be enough. She felt a little bit confused by that. Normally, men fell at her feet when she turned them on, but not the Inspector. In fact, he seemed to become even more reserved torwards her the more she tried. For some reason this only made her want to try harder and there were some progress. He had opened up to her a little after their sandwich lunch and he had not forced her arm away just now. She hoped it was indication of him loosening up a bit.

She thought about her stranger who had sent her an email yesterday. Apparently there were more girls in trouble with bad men than Dot. She had sighed as she read it. Was this the reason for why the stranger felt bad? No, it did not feel like one of those "I'm asking for a friend" sort of story. She had spent the rest of the night wondering what to write back. Could she tell the other person about Dot? Would she? She was not a tattletale, but the secrecy of their identities was actually relieveing in this sort of cases, but did she feel comfortable with it.

The Inspector held up the door and led her into the assembly hall. He took a hold on the lower of her back as they got to the row of seats in the back. Phryne felt a thrill spreading from his hand and looked back at him with a seductive smile. Her smiled seemed to made him aware of where his hand was and he quickly took it and the thrilling sensation away.

The Inspector sat himself down in one of the seats closest to the entrance and she took her seat beside him. The assembly hall was still rather empty. She watched him from the corner of her eyes. He glanced quickly at her.

"I'm surprised that you came", he said, looking straight at the podium up front. A big picture of John Andrews covered the entire wall behind it.

"It's part of the case", Phryne answered, taking out a pen and a notebook from her handbag.

He did not answer. Phryne had a feeling he was uncomfortable with her presence. He often seemed to be. It was probably made worse if he thought he had crossed a line with touching her back.

Apparently, they had got there just in time. Suddenly the door opened and a bunch of people came in. Phryne and the Inspector had to stand up to let people through to the seats further into the row. In a couple of minutes, the assembly hall was packed with people.

"Good thing we were here early", she tried joking to lighten the mood, but was shushed by him immediately. This made her a little angry. Normally, she would call anyone, particularly a man, out on behaviours like this, but she did not have the time as the dean took place on the podium.

 

Phryne could not believe how the memorial service had developed. Everyone had talked about John Andrews as if he was some kind of saint. Poor Dot! Phryne's hand had clenched hard around the pen, almost breaking it as person after person made speaches glorifying the man. She noticed that even the Inspector was tense and his eyes shone with anger. It was evident that he too thought about Dot. This was what she must have faced as she tried telling the dean about what happened. This unreflected worship of John Andrews by both his boss, his co-workers and his students.

Dot was not exactly weak. She had understood pretty early on in their friendship that there was much more to the girl than what first met the eye. She was stronger than she seemed, but there was a lingering fragility to her person that had made her sweet instead of rough like Phryne herself. Add to this, a crazy religious mother (not that Phryne would ever say that out loud to Dot) and Phryne had a hard time believing how the girl had coped with it all.

 "Would you care to join me for a nightcap at my house Inspector?" she asked as they approached her car. He didn't say anything. Just nodded and left her to get his car. She looked after him, before getting into her own car and driving home.

She reach her house only a few seconds before the Inspector. He parked his car behind hers and climbed out at the same time as she did.

Mr Butler opened the door for them and took first her and then Jack's coat.

"Would you two like something to drink Miss?" he inquired with a gentle smile.

"Yes, would you do your favourite cocktail for me and the Inspector please?" Phryne answered.

"Eh... I don't know if I should drink anything with alcohol", the Inspector said sounding a bit worried. "I will be driving home."

"I put you in a taxi", she answered with a smile at him. She would have prefered if he stayed there, sharing a bed with her, but she could sense he was a little uncomfortable being here in the first place. "I can pick you up tomorrow morning too if you want or I could have Mr Butler drive home your car." She added, before he could say anything. He nodded.

She sat down on the couch and patted on the seat beside her, wanting him to sit beside her. Ignoring her, he sat down in the armchair he had occupied when they had interviewed Dot earlier.

"I can't imagine what Miss Williams must have felt like, with all that... that...that..." he started, but didn't seem to be able to find the words.

"Glorification?" she asked and he nodded. "I can't either. She must have felt so alone. And the man all those people talked about didn't have any resemblance to the man Dot knew."

The Inspector sighed heavily.

"It is easy to glorify someone who is dead, but at times I can't see the point of it. Sometimes people are mean idiots. Their death, however it might occur, doesn't change that."

"I agree Inspector."

He looked at her. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes as they drank their cocktail.

"You might as well, call me Jack", he said and she was pleased to see his lips twitching a bit. "Everyone else does."

"Very well Jack", she answered with a bright smile. "You may call me Phryne, although hardly anyone does."

They both went quite again. This time it was Phryne who broke it:

"He shouldn't have been killed."

"No", Jack answered quietly.

"But he was a creep!"

"Yes!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no clue about what cars are the best modern comparisons for a Hispano Suiza, so I don't know if I will specify what type Phryne should own. If someone has a good suggestion, please let me know.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the car tips! There is a dark grey car that I often see in my neighbourhood which I find beautiful, so I went for that at first, but looking into your tips, I think I'll go with the Bugatti that leafingbooktea suggested (Thank you!). I find the colouring most similar to the Hispano Suiza and it was beautiful.

As Jack got into his flat, he sank down on the chair in the hallway and drew in a shaky breath. She had been absolutely lovely tonight. And absolutely beautiful in that black dress she had worn to the memorial service. He did not know if he was entirely happy about her being all nice and lovely. If she had not been, it would be much easier to dismiss her. 

He rose and went into the living room. The walls were packed with bookcases, but he did not think any one of them would help him with thw confusing feelings he had towards Miss Fisher...Phryne... No, it was much safer to continue calling her Miss Fisher he decided. He sat down at the desk in the corner and brought up his laptop from a drawer in it. He opened it and turned it on. His heart started beating when he saw he had a reply from the stranger.

_Hello yourself Stranger,_

_I have a dear friend who is in a similar position. She has been treated horridly by people around her, but I am trying to help her find herself again. Her boyfriend is extremely good at taking care of her too. So I think she'll be just fine in the end even though it might take some time. Depressions do that, but I hope to provide her with a healthy social environment at least._

_I think it is too easy for a woman to fall into a social trap like that still. And men doesn't exactly help matters by getting offended by women being scared when they, for example, cross the street because it is dark and an unknown man walks a few steps behind her. Not all men are abusers, killers and rapists, but how can she know he is not one of the men who are? Is it worth the risk just so she doesn't have to offened him? It's appaling that too often he seems to think that she should._

Jack thought about what the stranger wrote. It felt like it was the first clue he had got to the strangers identity. He had never been offended when a woman had been avoiding him in the street when he was out ar night, but he had never really thought about it the way the stranger described it. Did this mean that the stranger was a woman. He could not be totally sure, but there was a possibility. He thought about what the stranger wrote and what Miss Fisher and he had talked about earlier. It was a clear problem, but how to best go about it? Glorifying a man despite him doing things like this to women was not good. It was clear misuse of power and privilege. Discussing it also had the problem of offending all men. All men was certainly not to blame for the sexual abuse and rapes. Himself for example, would never dream of doing anything like it. But he also realised that the best way to handle the problem was to actually do some generalisations about men. The only thing most sexual assault and rape cases had in common was that the accused was a man and the victim a woman. A woman who actually always got to take most of the blame for what had happened. He thought about Miss Williams again. Was it common that women was met with such opposition when they tried report the men? He realised he probably needed to look into the research of John Andrews to really understand why he was so glorified by the university as he was.

He sighed and sat down to write an answer to the stranger.

_Hello,_

_I too am appalled by how some men do not seem to understand in what sort of privileged position they are in. It is so easy when you are in that situation that you shot everybody else out and live in your own sort of bubble not understanding that not everyone is in the same position. It is easy not to notice things when you do not have to notice them. If you can live your life without needing to know about something, you too often do not care of others having a different types of life than your own. This man I was talking about held a position of power and he very much abused it, probably leaving a lot of people sad and terrified. The question is, what to do about it?_

_A new person has also come into my life and this person is a bit overwhelming and terrifying. I may have had some prejudices towards the person at first, but the person has turned out to be quite nice. I just have no clue how to handle the whole situation either._

Jack sighed again, sending away the email. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope the email conversations will not turn out too much like in "You've got mail". I went with transfering them to emails because I wanted them to get a deeper relationship than could be provided by short sentences on a park bench.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Jack is a proud feminist!  
> 1\. He is clearly that in the show and books.  
> 2\. He would probably not get along with Phryne if he wasn't.  
> 3\. I think we all have seen now how much damage a (white) man can do. And that is just in one week...

Phryne read through the email. Her stranger seemed to have some deep thoughts. There was a sadness to the email. As if the stranger had no clue as to how to go about his (or her - she had to remind herself that just because she imagined the stranger to be a man, it might not be!)

 

_Hello again stranger,  
_

_I think you are right. We do not see what we are not used to see. From my own experience I think humans are far more complicated than we can even grasp. Instead of acting according to logic, we act rather more according to systems and structures. The thing to go about it is probably therefore to talk about it. Expose the structures and you see how wrong it is. Not all men are rapists, but to discuss the problem we need to do some generalisations about it without all men having to tell us that they are not to be blamed for it._

_I too have some new people in my life and they are all wonderful. One of them seems very shy and uncomfortable though, but I hope to show this person that I am not as scary as I look. Recently I realised that there is much more to this person than what first meets the eye. In fact, this person seems very much like a chiffonier. You never know when you might find hidden compartments.  
_

Phryne felt content with her email and had just pressed send when her mobile phone rang. She looked down at the display and sighed deeply. She had been avoiding her since she got to Melbourne. She aways told Phryne how to dress. How to act. How to behave. Phryne felt like she was a relic from the 19th century. Phryne did not hate her, but she often wanted her to just relax and leave her alone. She had already had to much restriction on how to act, what to eat and how to dress. Thinking back to her stranger, she wondered if she would perhaps tell him or her about René. No, too early for that. 

"Hello aunt Prudence!" she said into the phone in as blithe tone as she could manage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry That this chapter was rather short again, but sometimes that will happen.  
> And one more thing I just have to get this out: Cocaine Blues is called **Cocaïne et tralala** in French!


	24. Chapter 24

"I'm so sorry I'm late!"

Jack sighed as he heard her voice behind him. He still had not figured out if he liked having her around or not. Neither was he sure why he had waited for her to turn up before heading into the university building.

"Miss Fisher..." he started, not exactly knowing what to say.

"Phryne!"

"Miss Fisher!" he repeated with a more firm tone. "If you're going to demand to come along with me, Miss Fisher, the least you can do is turn up on time."

"My aunt called", she explained and he sighed again. "I love her to death, but she can be very annoying."

He looked her up and down. She wore another dress in blue silk. The length of the shirt was up to her knees. He stopped himself before looking at her naked legs. His eyes didn't dare to even take a closer peek at the low neckline. She had invaded his dream again last night. It started to get really annoying. This time it had been far more intimate. They had been at her house for that nightcap like they had for real last night. But he hadn't gone home. Instead they had started to makeout in her living room. Then he had carried her upstairs and... He blinked hard. He could **not** think about this with her standing right before him. It had been such a long time since he had had a dream like that. Why now? Why her? He had no interest whatsoever in this woman. Yes, she was nice and smarter than he thought, but he could manage fine without her.

She tried to link her arm through his again. This time he put a stop to it by snatching his arm away. Even if it had only been a dream and she had no way of knowing about it, he still felt embarassed and uncomfortable. As he dared to look at her again, he saw a look of surprise and what seemed to be hurt in her face. It was gone before he could delve more into it and replaced by one of her usual look of confidence.

They were met at the department by a Chinese history PhD student named Lin Chung who started to explaining John Andrews research to them. Jack thought he seemed nice enough, but from the second they arrived he seemed to take an annoyingly big interest in Miss Fisher. He complimented everything about her... Even her teeth! Who does that?! What idiot compliment a woman's teeth?! He did not think this man worthy of her. Not that he himself cared for that, but he did not like the way Mr Chung looked at Phryne... Miss Fisher. Neither how he spoke to her. 

As they was ready to leave, Mr Chung asked Miss Fisher out to lunch and he felt himself justified in answering for her.

"I do not think that she wants to", he said firmly. "We have to much job to do."

"Actually, I find myself a bit hungry", she countered with a look between disappointment and anger towards him."

She took Mr Chung's offered arm and they walked away, leaving Jack to ponder what had just happened and why his heart suddenly clenched hard in his chest.


	25. Chapter 25

Lin Chung was very nice and handsome and also turned out to be excelent in bed. The only problem was that he was extremely boring. He had taken Phryne for lunch at his grandmother's Chinese restaurant and it had been nice, but as soon as she told him that she had an interest in fashion, he had explained that his research field was Chinese silk trade during the 1920's and he had ended up going on and on about it for the rest of the lunch. It was not that she found the subject boring. It was just that it was not the time and the place for a lecture. In the end, she had to invite him home to get him to stop talking.

After she had sent him home from her house, she had got into her Bugatti and driven off to the police station. Dot had still not felt comfortable enough to come with her. The poor girl was still shaken up about her involvment with John Andrews and Hugh had said he would take her out tonight as well to have her not thinking about it too much.

Jack had acted very strange that morning. She wondered what had happened over night. She had thought they were on the right way to become friends, but first he had shaken her off when she tried to link her arm with his in the same way as the day before. Then he had gone almost alpha male on Lin, answering for her that she did not want to go to lunch with him. In fact the main reason she had gone with Lin was because of his behaviour. She was glad she had though. Lin had satisfied her for the time being. That was all that mattered.

On the way to the police station, Phryne stopped by the sandwich shop and bought one of the ham, cheese and mustard pickle sandwiches. She figured it might come in handy.

Hugh helped her inside as usual. She found the Detective Inspector in his office. He often seemed to be sad and lonely and even more so today.

"Hello again Inspector!" she said cheerfully. He looked up from the report he was reading, but made no effort to greet her with anything other than a nod before returning his eyes to the report in his hands.

"Oh don't be like that!" she said feeling very disappointed that he seemed to ignore her. "I bought you a sandwich."

"I don't want a sandwich!" he snapped at her without those greenish-blue eyes leaving the paper. "I need to read through this. Some of us has a real job to do."

"But aren't I your partner now?"

"No, neither have you ever been. I'm thankful for all the help, but I can manage fine without you."

She refused his dismisal and jumped up onto the desk, forcing him to withdraw the report and look at her.

"This is not going to work Miss Fisher..."

"You could at least try the sandwich." She opened up the bag and brought out the sandwich and unwrapped it. She could see him thinking it over as she reached in closer to him with the hand carrying the sandwich. His eyes fell upon it and when it was close enough, he couldn't resist taking a bite. She smiled. Content that her plan to draw him out seemed to be working.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest I don't really mind Lin even though I want Phryne to be with Jack. I have not met him in the books yet (I'm only on Blood and Circuses.), but in the TV series he is quite stiff, so it was rather easy making him a rather boring academic. I absolutely adore Camelia and would have loved to have seen her more though!

_I might have_ _done something stupid. You know that person that is new in my life that I told you about. That person has a very direct attitude and I am not exactly used to that. I find myself confused as to how to react. This person overwhelms me, but still I don't seem to be able to resist it either. I'm not often comfortable around strangers and I prefer to be alone, but this person sort of forces me to open up whether I want to or not._

The email was short, but Jack did not feel like telling the stranger everything about the weird feelings, how beautiful he found her or the vivid, embarrassingly erotic dreams he had been having. He sighed and turned off his computer. He wondered about Miss Fisher. Not only did she force herself into his work, she seemed to be forcing herself into his mind as well. Since this case started, she had never been far from the front of his thoughts. She was nice and smart and not as snobbish as he had first thought. Quite the contrary. He still had not decided if he really like her or not. She felt impulsive and reckless. Nothing like himself. She also had a great deal of charm and social skills. She could probably talk herself out of any awkward situation. He, on the other hand, hated situations like those. He never knew what to say or do and often, he ended up making the situations even more awkward than they were. The ending of the encounter with Lin Chung was a proof of that and he really had no clue what he did wrong. Miss Fisher had not seemed too keen to have him around, but when he had tried to save her from him, she had gone off with him for lunch, leaving him to go back to the station alone. Normally he would not have minded this. He more often then not since the divorce did things on his own, but somehow he had felt lonely as she had abandonned him without even a backwards glance at him. The woman was a conundrum. He had skipped lunch. He told himself that it was because he had so many other, more important things, to do, but for real he did not feel like eating. He had decided that he would put his foot down. Really show her who wore the trousers... He should have known she would show up at his office dressed in trousers just because of this. Of course the laws of the universe could never give him a break. Of course she had bought him his favourite sandwich again. And of course he had not been able to resist her in the end. After she had fed him the first bite, he had snatched the sandwich out of her hand and eaten it. He wanted to ask her where she had left the Chinese Historian, but he tought better of it.

"As I told you when we met up", she had said watching him eat. "My aunt Prudence called me. My cousin Guy is having his engagement party on Saturday at her house and guess who has accepted her invitation."

"You?" he answered with a big sigh, not seeing why anything about this could be relevant.

"Yes, but besides that", she answered with a big smile, seeming content that she knew something he did not. "Lydia Andrews."

"John Andrews wife?"

"Yes, would you go to a party only days after your husband have been killed?"

"There is no right way to mourn Miss Fisher..."

"Phryne! And no, but Guy's parties tend to turn a bit wild. Believe me, I've been to too many of them and always ended up in bed with some sleezy scumbag"

He had stiffened at the mentioning of her love life. He did not feel comfortable thinking about her in bed... especially not with a man.

"Anyway, I'm going to go and I want you to come with me", she had continued.

"Why?"

"To spy on Lydia of course."

"I don't know your aunt Miss Fisher. Neither am I invited."

"No, but I can bring a date. Oh! It's a costume party and I think it will be best if we wore matching outfits. I'm thinking Cleopatra and Mark Anthony would be great, don't you?"

Jack throw himself onto his bed and almost growled in frustration. In the end, he had agreed to come with her, but he stood his ground on the costume. He would not be turned into the triple pillar of the world transformed into a strumpet's fool!


	27. Chapter 27

Phryne sighed when she opened the door and saw Jack dressed in a suit. A nicer, blue one yes, but still nothing that he did not wear every day for work. Good thing she had bought the costume for him just in case.

"Are you really going like that?" she asked in a displeased tone.

"Yes?" he answered somewhat confused. He seemed even more aloof than he had Thursday morning when they met up at the university.

"But that is something you wear every day."

"There's nothing wrong with the way I'm dressed. I'm perfectly disguised as a police detective."

"You won't detect much in a crowd in a blue wool suit and tie."

She led him into the parlour and showed him the Roman soldier costume.

"No!" Jack stated firmly. "I am not going to wear that."

Ignoring him, she went over to him and starting to tear at his blue tie. She felt him stiffen at her proximity. His eyes widened and he drew in a deep breath, holding it.

"No-one will know who you are, she said teasingly, wanting to lighten the mood.

"Except you", he swallowed, she could feel his adam's apple bob underneath her fingers. He was clearly uncomfortable with her proximity. The thought that she had an effect on him was thrilling. She felt a warm chill spread from her heart.

"Come on, Jack", she continued in the same teasing tone as she started with the buttons on his collar. "Just one gaudy night."

"If you really want a Roman soldier... then I'll take it from here."

He had sounded embarrassed and she realised that he would probably run away if she continued to undress him (Oh how she would love to undress him and have her way with him all night instead of going to Guy's stupid party!). Then she would be left without him... a police insider. She did not know if she wanted that. He had already become so important in her life... her **work** life. She thought about her mysterious stranger and the last email she had recieved Thursday morning. She had not replied yet. It had made her think a lot. It was strange how their lives seemed to be parallel. Both of them had a friend that was having difficulties with a man and they had both met someone new recently. In fact, when she thought about it, the stranger seemed to share some quality with Jack... but it could not be him, could it?

She smiled as she left him, closing the parlour doors behind her.

* * *

 

How had he agreed to this? He took up the helmet and looked it over. It was ridiculus. He really had no willpower when it came to her. She had been so close! Way to close for him to be comfortable. The sent of her French parfume overtook his entire mind. He did not want to go to the stupid party. He wanted to take her upstairs... **No!** He wanted to be at home with a good book and a glass of whisky. That was comfortable and safe.

He sighed and stripped before picking up the costume that would transform him into a Roman soldier for the evening matching the Cleopatra attire she was wearing. She looked so beautiful in the white dress that revealed too much skin for him to feel comfortable looking at her and the golden hairdress that adorned on top of her raven bob was unsettling both his body and mind. This would certainly be a long, trying night.


	28. Chapter 28

It was not the first time Phryne sat in the backseat of her own car. Mr Butler usually drove it when she was going out somewhere. However, this was the first time she had company already from the beginning of the evening. She glanced over at Jack. It was seldom that she was rendered speechless, but when she had opened the door to the parlour and had seen him, her mind suddenly went blank. He was ridiculously handsome. She hoped she could somehow sneak off and pilfer the sword her aunt had on display in the billiard room. That would make Jack's costume perfect. He had not said a word since he dressed in the costume. His sat beside her, staring straight ahead. His back totally straight. His body stiff. His hand clutched the helmet in his lap. She had hoped the costume would get him to relax a bit, but it seemed to have had quite the opposite effect on him. He was clearly very uncomfortable and she reached out for his hand.

The touch had his head quickly turn towards her. His eyes wide and his mouth opened as if to say something, but no words came. He closed it again and she could see he swallowed. Again, she thought of her stranger. The little she knew about him/her seemed to add up to Jack. The first time she had met him, had even been in the Botanical Garden. She realised she would like it to be the mysterious man sitting beside her looking so unsure of himself.

"Relax Jack!" she said, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb. She wanted to reach over and kiss it too, but thought that would probably only make him even more scared. "This is going to be fun. My aunt is a bit trying sometimes, but she is all very nice. As is Guy and his fiancé Isabella. They are a bit silly though and not the most intelligent people I know. But deep down, they are nice."

He nodded and she saw him taking a few deep breath as Mr Butler pulled up on her aunt's driveway.

* * *

Jack's mind felt like it was all over the place. How would he be able to pull off a night like this? He was not fond of parties. The whole context was always confusing and awkward to him and this was a party for the finer folks too. During his marriage to Rosie, they had often been invited to parties like these. She was the daughter of the deputy commisioner after all. They had often declined the invitation though. Jack knew it was because of him. Rose loved dressing up and going out to those sort of thing and in the beginning of their marriage, they had always accepted, but then the depression had changed him and his relation to Rosie. Now here he was, stepping out of a Bugatti at the drive way of Mrs Prudence Stanley with the honourable Phryne Fisher. He felt out of place and he knew he looked riddiculous.

Phryne led the way to the front door. It was opened by an older gentleman in a black tuxedo. Probably a butler, Jack thought and it was soon by Phryne greeting him as a Mr Martin and asked for her aunt. Mr Martin showed them both inside and to a room at the far end of a long corridor.

"Phryne!" Mrs Stanley exclaimed happily as she saw them step inside the room, which turned out to be the library. The older woman had been sitting in an armchair, reading a book with a cup of tea placed at the side table. She put the book down and rose to greet them. As Phryne approached her, Jack decided to remain at the door. He felt even more awkward after entering the house.

"Hello aunt Prudence", Phryne said, kissing her aunt on both cheek. "I thought I might say hello before I go into the party. And let me present Detective Inspector Jack Robinson." She turned to him and waved for him to come forward.

The smile Mrs Stanley had had while greeting her niece, vanished in an instant as he approached the two women. The older one eyeing him suspicioulsy and he felt even more riddiculous and out of place. This evening could not possibly get any worse than this.

 

After reassuring Mrs Stanley that everything was fine and, as Jack had been clear to point out, that they were **not** dating, they went to find Guy and Isabella. Jack was totally perplexed by the two humans before him. They seemed to be totally crazy, but remembering what Phryne had said about them being nice deep down, he decided to try to like them. He looked around him at the other guest and his eyes fell on a woman with reddish brown hair dressed in a beautiful, yellow dress, obviously supposed to be Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast stood talking to a blonde women dressed up as a fairy. He took a deep breath as he realised he had been wrong before. The evening had just got worse. Standing there was no one other than his ex-wife.


	29. Chapter 29

Phryne asked Guy for Arthur. She really hoped that he would not have locked him in his room again. It happened too often during Guy's parties. She knew Guy was embarrassed by his brother in public and envied all the attention he got from their mother in private. Guy started answering, but Phryne suddenly became aware of Jack froze beside her. She looked up at him. She knew he was very uncomfortable in the situation, but now his face had turn white as a ghost and he looked totally frighten. She followed his eyes and saw a woman with dark auburn hair dressed in a yellow ball gown talking to a blonde fairy. Who was she?

"Jack?" she said softly. "What's the matter?"

She took his hand which made him flinch and look at her.

"I-I-I" he stuttered, not being able to find his voice properly. "I need to go."

"But we just arrived", she said with a mix between worry and surprise.

"I'm sorry Miss Fisher, but I can't go through with this anymore."

Without waiting for her answer, he more or less ran out of the room.

Guy, as always too centered around himself and in the middle of explaining why Arthur had not be allowed to come, had of course missed the entire exchange between herself and Jack and seemed surprised when she apologised before running off to find her frightened Detective Inspector. Before she left the room, she glanced back at the unknown woman Jack had been staring at. A man, dressed as the Beast from Disney's Beauty and the Beast came up to her, kissing her on the cheek. The woman was pretty and Phryne was dying of curiousity to find out who she was. But first, she needed to tend to Jack.

She ran towards the hallway, not wanting him to leave. Not yet. Not leaving her behind at this crazy party.

"Jack!" she called out to him, as she saw him. He had just stretched out a hand to open the front door. He hesitated a split second, but decided not to acknowledge her. Instead he was out the door, before she had reached him.

"Jack, please wait!" she continued, as she too stepped outside.

His whole body rose and sank with a deep sigh, but he stopped before her.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly as she reached him and stopped a few steps behind him. She stretched out a hand wanting to touch his back, but thought better of it and let it fall to the side again. "Who is that woman?"

Jack remained silient at first, but just when she was about to walk around him, to look at his face, he said: "That would be the deputy commissioner's daughter Rosie." His voice was stiff and his voice lingering. Just when Phryne was about to respond because she did not think he would say more, he added in a gulp: "And my ex-wife..."

Hugh had told her, Jack had been married, but she had somehow forgotten all about it as they worked together. She had no idea how much time had passed since the divorce or what had caused it, but she could see why it would make someone like Jack cringe and be uncomfortable around his ex-wife.

"Jack..." she started softly, but realised soon enough that she had no clue what to say to comfort him. At the sound of her soft voice, he turned slowly towards her. "Oh Jack!" she said again as she saw his face. It was so full of sorrow. Before she had thought about it, she threw herself at him, inking her arms around his vaist in the biggest bear hug she could think about doing.

* * *

 

This was not good! This was not good at all! Unfortunately the traiterous part of his brain took over and before the sensible part of his brain had registered what had happened, he had put his arms around her, answering the hug. Later, he decided it was all due to the sent of her French perfume. It overwhelmed him and he had to close his eyes. For the first time that evening, he was glad he wore the costume. The cuirass protected his heart's fast beating from embarrassment at her closeness.

"Better?" she asked and her upper body leant away a bit to look at his face. He looked down at her face and tried a half-smile, but the look on her face told him, she was not fooled. Anyway, she did not comment on it. "I understand this must be awkard for you, especially since she seems to be here with someone..."

"Sidney Fletcher", he told her stifly. Of course she was there with him. Rosie had already pretty much accepted a proposal from him before her divorce from himself had been finale. He still felt that hand grabbing hold of his heart when thinking about it. He knew very well that he himself had driven her into the arms of her father's godson. Looking into the blue eyes of Phryne... Miss Fisher!..., made him realise that he might be able to face his ex-wife and her new lover. Her eyes and the arms still surrounding his vaist provided empathy, compassion and comfort. She had him. Looking into her eyes, also made him feel like that grip on his heart had changed without him realising it. The gripping hand was more one of regret for how miserably things had ended with Rosie than one of hurt from a lost love. He could face her tonight! With Phryne at his side, he could face both her and Sidney.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since there is a lot of rumours going around about Sweden, I just want to take this opportunity to clearify things for possible US readers:  
> Yes, we do in fact have problems. Not least due to segregation and racism. No country is perfect! Yes, we did take in a lot of refugees. No, this did not increase the crime rate. On the contrary, statistics show our crime rate has gone down continualy since 2005. We have "only" about 100 murders a year.   
> About our rape statistics: we have a broad definition about what is considered to be a rape. We also make victims feel safe enough to report them, which is what shows up in the statistics. Far from everyone accused is actually convicted (We too have problem with victim blaiming for example.), but we have no statistics of that.   
> We also have lots of problems with lots of Romani beggars from other EU countries, but that is mostly because their home countries are really racist towards them. And our pride parades actually engage much more people than ever (even in Malmö!). In fact the church, the military and the police proudly participate in them! And no one over here has any idea who that "Swedish security advisor" that was interviewed is, so not only was it fake news. It was a fake person as well!   
> But now over to Jack and Phryne.

Phryne felt Jack relax against her. It was nice having him in her arms. She still wondered if he was her stranger. She hoped so. It would give her a direct link into his mind. A mind that she had come to realise he was not giving up willingly to her in person, but intrigued her.

"Better?" she asked with a friendly smile, leaning back so she could see his face. He only nodded.

Releasing him from the hug, she took his hand and led him back into the house.

It was not long before the woman in the yellow dress, Rosie as Phryne had just learned, spotted them. She seemed surprised at seeing Jack and made her way over to them.

"Jack", she said. Her voice calm, but she could not hide the surprise at seeing her ex-husband there. She looked Jack up and down and Phryne got a feeling she admired him in the costume she had made him wear.

"Rosie", he said in a tone that did not entirely hide his discomfort. Phryne glanced at Jack. He had stiffened beside her again, but he did not let go of her hand. In fact, he squeased it harder. He then also seemed to remember that Phryne was beside him. "This is Phryne Fisher, she is the cousin of Guy Stanley. And Phryne, this is Rosie... ah..."

"Sanderson will do fine nowadays Jack", Rosie said reach out her hand and Phryne had to let go of Jack's to take it.

"Rosie is my wife", she heard Jack explain, making Rosie give him a rather annoyed look. " **Former** wife", he added, reminding himself. Phryne's heart went out to him. He was clearly extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"What are you doing here Jack?" Rosie asked. "I thought you didn't like situations like this. At least you didn't during our **marriage**." Her stress on the word marriage had Phryne wondering if she was jealous. 

"I was invited by Miss Fisher", Jack responded. "We are working on a case together."

"Here? At the party?"

"No, I brought him along because I like his company", Phryne decided to chime in before Jack's nervousity made him tell Rosie too much.

Before Rosie could respond, the man dressed as the Beast, came up to her.

"Rosie, there you are", he said, putting a hand protectively on Rosie's lower back and Phryne could not help but wonder if he did so because of Jack. "Hello Jack! It's nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too Mr Fletcher", Jack said stoically, forcing a smile.

"Darling," Fletcher continued, towards Rosie. "Come on! There is someone I want you to meet."

Before Rosie had an opportunity to respond, Fletcher dragged her away from them. Phryne could not help but wonder if it was not more because he did not want Rosie talking to Jack than a specific person he wanted her to meet.

"That wasn't so bad, was it", she gave him a reassuring smile and to her great relieve, he answered it with one of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I have decided to be pretty proud of my normal blog (which contains a lot of my thoughts about Phryne's universe, even if it's not limited to it), I have decided to give you a link to it. <http://nerdinessbythearchaeologist.blogspot.se/>


	31. Chapter 31

The evening had been next to perfect (only next to, since Jack did not follow her up to her boudoir), but Phryne felt he was warming up to her. After all, he had kissed her on the cheek as he got into his own car in front of her house. She sat down in front of her computer and thought about what to write to her stranger. She wanted to make sure that it was really Jack, but was not sure how. She looked at his last email. If the stranger was Jack, the new person he was talking about might be her. If it was, she had some clue as to how to calm him down.

_I do not think you should overthink your relations with the new person you mentioned and just go with it. He or she might just want to get to know you. Perhaps he or she finds you a nice, interesting person. It sounds like you are scared that others will get to know you. How come? We all need other people in our lives from time to time. I am hear, but you do not sound like you would be comfortable if we met in person or even knew each other's first names. Is there any special reason for this? Why do you find it easier to write than to talk?_

She sent the email and went up to bed. She was sure, she would dream about Jack in the Roman armour suit tonight.

* * *

 

It was dark, but Jack still went out to the little garden he had in the backyard, the reason why he had chosen this small house in Richmond after the divorce. The sun powered lamps lit up the path between the beds. Nothing of what he had sowed had started to grow yet, but walking around out here always made him calm down after a long trying day and this day had certainly been trying. It was almost as good for keeping his angsty ghosts away as cycling, but he had not been able to do that today.

His thoughts wandered off to Phryne and Rosie. They were so different. Phryne was all flirt and seduction and wild, while Rosie was calm and collected and a bit prissy. Phryne was independent. She would never let anyone (especially no man) boss her around like Sidney had done Rosie. In fact, watching the scene play out, Jack had felt worried for his ex-wife. He hoped she was with Sidney because she felt genuine love and affection for him and not because she had been in desperate need to not be lonely during and right after their divorce.

It had not been too bad, seeing her again. Before, there had always been a sting of some feelings he had not been able to place. He would probably always hold tender feelings towards her, but his feelings seemed to have changed lately. He was no longer sad that their marriage had ended, but **how** it had done so. He still felt a pang of guilty thinking about what a terrible husband he had been to her after the case with the murdered family. He sighed! Depression and mild PTSD had been the diagnoses he had got. He could still remember his head being both full of emotions and totally empty of them at the same time. He took a deep breath. It turned into another sigh.

Why had he kissed her on the cheek as he had taken his clothes which Dot seemed to have washed, ironed and put into a small suitcase for him, the jacket hung on a hanger. He had not bothered to change at her house. In fact, he still wore the ridiculous outfit that Phryne had forced him to wear.

He shook his head. When had she become Phryne? She had told him to call her that, but he had stayed with the less personal Miss Fisher anyhow. She felt too close otherwise. Thinking back, he realised that he had refered to her as Phryne in his mind since he came out into the garden. It felt like something had shifted in his mind in regards to the beautiful raven-haired lady tonight.

His mobile phone made a beeping sound. He had an email.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say that the Botanical Garden looks very pretty from the pictures from Nathan's High Tea I've seen. I hope I can go there some day.

Jack read through the message from the stranger. S/he sounded really kind and concerned, but still a complete stranger. He did not even know what gender the other person had. Based on things s/he had said, he thought it more likely to be a woman than a man, but you could never know for sure.

_I do not think I am so interesting. This person is living life on the wild side and I am not much into that. I prefer a more quiet life-style even f my job from time to time puts me in danger. As to your questions. I know we cannot really manage on our own and I do have some people in my life, but I once both hurt and disappointed one of the people I held dearest. One who should be able to trust and depend on me. I do not really want that to happen again. And it is true that I prefer writing to a complete stranger over talking to someone I know. Writing gives me time to think about what to say and a complete stranger is easier because you are so totally detached from the rest of my life.  
_

_But I have not always been like this. In a way it all started about seven years ago when I saw some things that traumatised me quite a bit for quite some time. It changed me and I made everyone around me suffer because of that._

Should he tell the stranger? No, it might be too much. He did not want to scare off the stranger. He clicked sent before he started to regret bringing it up in the first place. He thought about that case. Seven years was a long time, but he still had pictures etched hard into his brain of that crime scene. He shook his head. He could not think about that. Instead he rose and left the computer and walked into his small bedroom where he started to remove the ridiculous costume.

* * *

 

Phryne read the email twice. It was Jack all right. She was sure of it. She was not so sure how to go about it though. She could not tell Jack that she was the stranger he had communicated with. That would probably scare him off directly. She wondered what had happened to him. She guessed the person he felt he had hurt and disappointed was Rosie. She could not imagine it being as bad as that. And if it had led to a divorce, they must have had a major fall-out that she was sure could not only be blamed on Jack. She did not know what to think of Rosie. She seemed nice enough, but they had not been able to talk for too long before her boyfriend had dragged her off. She did not like men who controlled women in that way. She wondered what Jack had been like as a husband... a husband to that particular woman. He said he had been traumatised and changed. Was it a hard case that had changed him? What had it all been about? Well, she did not think he would ever treat a woman like Sidney Fletcher had treated Rosie. Jack was too much of a gentleman for that. She sighed. She had come to the realisation that she should not judge or speculate about a marriage she did not know anything about and that was over before she got to know one of the two parties.

Her email was short, but she hoped he would tell her:

_I find you were interesting. Please tell me, what happened?  
_


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to make some things clear: I will be taking some liberties with plots. I still don't intend to make this a real case fic and focus on Jack and Phryne's story. The case will just happen since it's the thing they are working on.

Jack looked through the report of what the technicians had got from John Andrews's computer. He sighed, threw the file down onto the desk again and closed his eyes hard, pinching the ridge of his nose with his fingers. The man had really been a disgusting monster! Apparently there had been a lot of under-dressed teenage girls in sexual positions on there. There had also been a long email correspondance with a man named Murdoch Foyle about how to get access to even more girls. There was also some mentioning about a man they called F, who Foyle said could give John Andrews what he wanted. He had looked up Foyle and as it turned out, the man was in jail since 14 years. He had ordered that file too and reached out for it.

As it turned out, the man was in jail for kidnapping four girls and murdering three of them 15 years ago: Myrtle Hill had managed to run away from him and notify the police, but Deidre Kelly and Amelia Lubsohn had been found dead and the fourth girl, Jane Fisher... Jack flinched at the name. **Fisher!** Was she in some way related to...? No, Fisher was a common name, was it not? Anyway, he continued reading, Jane's body had never been found, but she was presumed to be dead. There was some things pointing to an accomplice, but so far, nothing could prove it. _John Andrews?_ Jack thought, making a mental note to remember it. He also wondered about the mysterious F. Could that person be the accomplice?

Suddenly the door flew up and Phryne... Miss Fisher (He needed to stop calling her Phryne in his head. The distance was good. The distance he could handle.)... bounced into his office, as always a smile planted on her face. However, the smile suddenly disappeared as she reached his desk, close enough to read the name on the folder.

"Why do you have that?" she asked, her voice unusually unsteady.

"It was a man John Andrews corresponded quite frequently with over the years", Jack answered, confused and worried about her tone. He stood up, as Phryne's expression changed to one of utter fear and he could see her eyes watering. This was a new side to her. She had always seemed so confident. So fearless.

"That man kidnapped my sister", she said as the first tear made its way down the porcelin skin onto her cheekbones and further down towards her jaw. "He just took her... We were at the circus and I should have protected her, but she was suddenly gone."

He stepped around his desk. He realised he needed to return the comfort from when they met Rosie. He reached out his arms and she willingly stepped into them. Her head fell down to his shoulder as she succumbed to the tears. Without thinking about it, he placed a soft kiss to her forehead and just held her as she cried.

 


	34. Chapter 34

He was just there! He did not say anything. He did not ask her to tell her anything. He just held her close. He did not judge her for crying either. René had always judged her whenever she cried after Janey. It had been different back then. The wound still open and raw. Without lifting her head from his shoulder, she glanced up at the man holding her in his arms. It did feel good. She could not help burrying her nose in his neck and nibbling at it. His skin tasted even better than she had imagined. She felt him freeze and his chest stopped rising and falling against her body. It was evident that he held his breath. His arms did not move from their place around her vaist, but they defintely had started losening their grip. Desperate to not let go of him, she tightened her arms around his body.

"Phryne..." he said, his voice raspy and filled of an emotion she thought might be fear. She closed her eyes. It was the first time he willingly had called her by her first name. It tumbled out of his mouth in that sexy, somewhat rough voice of his and she felt it go straight to her head.

She lifted her head from his shoulder. Their heads were so close to each other. What would he say if...? Without thinking about it, she reached out and touched his lips with hers. Jack stiffened, but when she was about to retreat, he seemed to break out of the spell and kissed her with more passion than she had ever felt. Ever since she realised he was her stranger, she had known he had a deeply passionate side even though well hidden from others, but the strong emotion totally overwhelmed her. Her head felt dissy. This was better than she had imagined it would be. She thought she could feel a slight taste of coffee in his mouth, probably something he had drunk that morning, but it did not mask the pure taste of him. She realised in that moment that she wanted him. They were in his office, but she wanted him more than she had ever wanted any other man. She started pushing his already opened suit jacket down his arms. He helped her, shrugging it off onto the floor at the same time as she opened his waistcoat before starting to work on his shirt buttons. When she had opened it up enough, she reached a hand in to feel his chest. She had wanted to feel him, so she did not want to vaste another second. Then suddenly he broke the kiss as if he had suddenly been burnt and pushed her away.

"I can't do this", he almost exclaimed in frustration while at the same time closing his waistcoat. He did not seem to mind the partly open shirt underneath before rushing to the door and storming out.

"Jack!" she called after him, but he disappeared out into the station.

* * *

 

Jack practically ran to the bathroom and locked himself in. He knew he must look a mess and that people would probably wonder, but he could not continue what Phryne had started back in his office. His body had totally betrayed him and both mental and physical parts of him had awaken that he had not felt in years. He opened the tap to turn on the cold water. He placed both his wrists underneath it and let the cold calm his boiling blood. This would have to do until he could have a really cold shower.

Why had he let her kiss him? Was he really so weak? She was so beautiful, but he had no intension of becoming one of all the men she seemed to use to satisfy her sexual urges. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was glad, she had not messed up his hair. He always had to spend so much time taming it in the morning. Now only one curl had search itself down onto his forehead and he smoothed it away. His face was a mess though. His lips were still swollen from the kiss and he wondered if there was any lipstick left on Phryne's... **Miss Fisher's!** lips since so much of it seemed to be smeared aroung his mouth. He took a paper towel, holding it underneath the tab and started cleaning it away. He still had not changed the temperature, thinking the cold water would help the swelling on his lips as well. He dreaded going back to his office. What if she was still there? What if she was not? What would he say the next time he saw her? He sighed, leaning his forehead against the mirror. This had suddenly become far more complicated.


	35. Chapter 35

_I may have done something terrible. I may have taken advantage of a vulnerable person. The same person I have told you about before. This person was crying and I was only supposed to provide comfort. Then suddenly we were kissing. Thankfully I stopped it before it got too far and ran out the door. Now I feel uncomfortable meeting this person again. I work for the police, so I often see people at their worst and should probably be used to them, but the truth is that I am not. And I have never kissed anyone of them before. I want to keep my personal life away from my professional one. In a way it cost me my marriage that I did not._

"Oh Jack!" Phryne sighed as she read through his email. Her heart went out to him. If only he knew it was her. After having waited in his office for more than 10 minutes, she had realised he would not come back until she was gone. She had picked up his discarded suit jacket and stroked it before hanging it over his chair.

She had spent the rest of the day out shopping with Dot before treating them to a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant close to her house. She thought she would experience a big backlash in her attempts to pull Jack out of his shell, but it was clear, she was making progress with Dot at least. The young woman had smiled quite a lot and was pleased, if a bit overwhelmed when Phryne had treated her to a lovely pink dress she had looked at with great admiration. Something to vary all the beige suits she so often wore. She had tried to refuse letting Phryne pay, but she had insisted. She was glad to be able to put a smile on the lovely girl's face. But how to do the same with Jack? 

The kiss had shown her how much emotions and passion he kept hidden underneath that cynical facade. It had been a great kiss. She had not been able to stop thinking about it all day. Even though she had realised that ravishing Jack in his office, might not have been the best idea, it had felt good to feel his mouth against hers and his skin underneath her fingers even though it had been only for a few seconds. She had seen how he looked at her with admiration before, but he never said or did anything about it and when she tried to woo him, he retreated as if scared. She sighed. Should she tell him, she was the stranger he was corresponding with? No, not now. That would probably have him run even further than to the bathroom. But she could perhaps reassure him that she did not feel like he was taking advantage of her vulnerable state. Far from it. She had wanted the kiss. Had craved it in fact. She let her hands fall down to the keyboard and started typing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am about to write a phrack post on my blog. Do you have any suggestions for what i should write?


	36. Chapter 36

As was her habit, she just stormed into his office like the tornado that she was. He had wanted to sink to the ground. He was too tired. He had spent the night awake, trying to think about anything to say to her. How to apologise for taking advantages of her. In despair, he had written an email to the stranger who had told him he had nothing to worry about. But how could the stranger know that?! She could not know Miss Fisher, could she? Or he! He had already from the start felt like the stranger was a woman, but he needed to remind himself constantly that it might be another man he was writing to. He drank the last gulp of his coffee. He had lost count of how many cups he had had that day. His hands had really started to shake due to the large amount of caffeine he had consumed that day. But he did not care.

He had paid Murdoch Foyle a visit in prison around lunch time only to be informed by the guards that she had already been there in the morning. He sighed. Every place of his life was suddenly filled with her. Not even in his mind he could be alone anymore.

"But you don't want to be alone", said a traitorous voice inside his head and he yelled inside his head for it to shut up.

Jack found himself even more uncomfortable and embarrassed by her presence this morning than he had ever been. Despite him being up thinking about their kiss and how to go about it with her all night, he had not really come up with anything to say. Instead he found that he could not even look at her.

"Jack!" she said in her usual happy voice as she sat down in what had become her usual spot on his desk. Her proximity got him to blush. He still had not been able to find the right words.

"Does that blush have anything to do with our kiss yesterday?" she continued and he forced himself to meet his eyes. Come on Jack! She is just a girl. You can do this!

"I-I-I-I am so sorry for that" he stuttered. "You were emotional and I should not have taken that kind of liberties. I am really sorry."

"Aw Jack", she said softly and reached out her hand as if she wanted to touch his cheek, but as he flinshed, she seemed to change her mind. "You did not take any liberties." Seeing him relax, she tried reaching out her hand to stroke his cheek again and he let her. His eyes involontairily closed at her touch. "And I am not here to apologise." The slightly seductive tone in her voice caused his stomach to twist itself in fear.

He forced his eyes opened and his cheek quickly escaped her touch by him turning his head away from her hand.

"I heared you had visited Murdoch Foyle", he said. His voice slightly hoarse from all the emotional turmoil she caused inside of him. "Can you explain to me why?"

"Because he kidnapped and probably also killed my sister", she said, clearly not happy about him changing the subject. "And if he is related to our case..."

"You are not a trained investigator Miss Fisher."

"Oh Jack! I thought we were past that by now. I have helped up until now, haven't I?"

"Please go home Miss Fisher!"

He picked up a pencil and started writing unreadable letters in one of the folder. He was somewhat suprised when she jumped off his desk with a heavy sigh and walked away. In the doorway, she turned around and he could not help looking up at her.

"Don't worry Inspector", she said in that seductive tone of hers. "It was one of the best kisses, I have ever had." She blinked at him and disappeared. Jack felt the pencil in his hand break in two.


	37. Chapter 37

"That went well..." Phryne thought ironically as she closed the door to Jack's office behind her. He had seemed much more uncomfortable than she had anticipated. He had barely looked at her. He looked tired and she guessed he had been up at least most of the night over-thinking the kiss in a way that probably had not benefitted his view on it. She wondered about the slight shaking of his hands. Was it an indication of fear of her or was it just his nervousness? Oh! She would have loved to kiss him again. Only the sight of him had triggered a fluttering wave which had passed through her entire being. She did not like that he was so uncomfortable around her. He had tried acting so cold and aloof, failing miserably as his discomfort and embarrassment shone through when she came close.

Well, it was time to bring in the heavy artillery.

She went out to the car and picked up the picnic basket she had brought. Suddenly she felt a bit insecure... No! she told herself. It had worked before.

This time she knocked on Jack's door. The second it took before he yelled "Come in!" in that beautiful, rough, deep voice of his was making her nervous.

"Collins, I've told you I don't think it's such a good idea to..." he blinked as he saw it was her and his voice faltered. His mouth left semi-opened at the sight of her. He seemed to remind himself and gulped hard. She could see his Adam's apple bob. "Miss Fisher..." he said with a shaken voice. "I think I told you to..."

"Oh Jack! I was just bringing you some lunch. Dot has made an excellent cottage pie and she would love you to have some of it."

She could see the wheel in his head turning. He was uncomfortable with her presence, but he seemed interested in her food treat. She smiled as he picked up some files, moving them from one end of the desk to the other, making room for her to put down the basket.

Her plan was working!

* * *

He was weak! He knew he was. He did not know why he had cleared his desk for her basket. Somehow there was no way to turn her down. And he had not eaten all day... Going through an entire day of just coffee had not turned out to be such a good idea.

He watched as she lifted a deliciously smelling cottage pie from the basket. He kept his eyes strictly on her hands. Her French perfume was enough to distract him. Seeing those amazing red lips would undo him completely, he was sure.

"Thank you!" he murmured, as he accepted the plate with the food from her hand. Still looking anywhere, but at her face. He knew it was very impolite and that his mother would scold him for it, but he just could not look at her. He noticed the fine china and the silver cutlery and wondered if she owned anything that did not cost a fortune. They were from so completely different worlds. It would never work. He almost choked on the first piece of the cottage pie he had just put in his mouth as his mind took that turn. He coughed lightly and instantly she was by his side, putting her hand on his back. He shrugged, making her hand go away. Why did she have to touch him so much?

"Are you ok?" she asked in a tender tone. Did he trace a bit of hurt in her voice? No, that was probably just his imagination. She immediately went over to the basket and took up two crystal glasses and a water bottle and filled one of the glasses for him. "We cannot have you choke Inspector", she said as she was handing it over to him.

He cleared his throat and took it from her. A bit embarrassed that he, again, failed remaining stoic and detached in front of her. Still without looking at her, he ate the rest of the pie. It was as delicious as it smelled.

"Is that better?" she asked kindly.

"Yes, tell Dot she is an excelent cook", he said.

"You don't have anything to be embarrassed about Jack dear. You did not take **any** liberties and it really was a good kiss."

He did not know what to say to that, so he just nodded, suddenly feeling like he wanted her to touch him again. He cleared his throat again.

"I still don't think it's such a good idea that you help me with this Phry... Miss Fisher. If Murdoch Foyle kidnapped your sister it might get to personal for you."

"Oh Jack! He can't have killed John Andrews since he was in jail and the fact that two monsters are in contact with each other might only be a coincidence. You know birds of a feather stick together... I want to solve this for Dot's sake."

He sighed.

"Please Inspector!" she tried again.

Another sigh escaped his mouth.

"Ok. Sit down in that chair", he pointed at the visitors chair on the other side of his desk, "and tell me what Foyle told you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Australian readers: Stay safe from the storm!
> 
> And one question about Melbourne. If Phryne grew up poor today, where would she live? Collingwood still?


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note

Just wanted to tell you that there will be a new chapter. I started working on it Friday morning, but then real life sort of happened and I'm too full of that right now to concentrate on writing.

Today I realise that I can't really talk about it any more. I have written about my thoughts and feelings here: <http://nerdinessbythearchaeologist.blogspot.com/2017/04/thoughts-and-feelings-about-stockholm.html>

I feel perfectly safe and rather calm (Same goes for all my friends and family). I'm just emotionally exhausted.


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Stockholm attack will affect Jack's background. I had originally thought to use a really gruesome Swedish murder case from the 19th century that I heard about on TV a while ago as a reason for Jack's depression and PTSD, but I have been wondering how the Swedish policemen and other rescue workers who worked at Drottninggatan last Friday feel. Therefore, I have chosen to change it. The references to Jack's past I have made in previous chapters therefore might seem a bit off, but it is what it is.  
> I know there was a similar incident in real Melbourne not so long ago, but this is based on the Stockholm terror attack. I hope that any Australian readers don't mind.

After dinner, Jack sat down in front of his laptop with a huge sigh. The stranger had said (s)he would listen if he told him/her. Maybe it was time that he did. His put his hands down on the keyboard and started writing.

_I have told you before that I work as a policemen and I sometimes do see too much in my work. I do not know how long you have been in Melbourne, but a couple of years ago, we had an incident where a man had a mental break down and hi-jacked a truck and rammed a crowd because he had lost both the welfare and the custody of his four children. I was first at the scene and it was such an intense bloodbath that it stuck to me. I was diagnosed with depression and PTSD. At the time I was married and even though my wife tried very hard, I was such a lousy husband to her. She encouraged me to just forget everything and move on. But it did not work for me. Those victims, especially the little girl, was etched too hard into my brain. I visited the site only about a day after, but that was probably too early. I could not take it all in then. I think the shock set in when I visited the site a couple of days later. That evening, I had such a physical reaction to it all. I felt chilled to the bones and strangely enough like all the fluids had drained from my body. I shoke and after that I could not manage to get out of bed for two weeks._

_I was such a lousy husband during that time, so my wife finally wanted a divorce and I agreed. It was better to let her go. She found another man pretty much straight away and I am sure he can be there for her in a way that I could not._

_My reaction probably shows that I am too emotional to be a policeman, but I started in the force because I wanted to help people. I do not believe that criminals are monsters like some of my colleagues. I do not think that they were born to commit crimes. Not even crimes such as that particular one. People are more likely to respond in kind to the tone you use against them and if all society uses hate, they will start to hate it back. That particular argument, I felt was missing from the political debate that followed. The politicians are not longer interested in those people who fall through and it really scares me._

He pressed sent with a sigh before rising. He needed to take a shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short and I know that. I am still a bit emotionally exhausted, but I wanted o say this in the middle of everything.
> 
> My thoughts and feelings about Stockholm can be found here: <http://nerdinessbythearchaeologist.blogspot.com/2017/04/stockholm-after-shock-lifted.html>


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the man driving the truck in Stockholm seems to be a religious fundamentalist. However, since I don't know how big of a problem that is in Australia today (To be honest, it is not really a subject I feel comfortable looking up at the moment either.), I chose to go for a slight variation of "Desperate's" husband's tale from Away with the Fairies.  
> Humans are a strange kind of animal. We have the ability to think logically and rationally, but we seldom act according to logic and reason. Instead we seem bound to act by social systems and structures, but sometimes also based on pure biological instincts. But I don't think anyone of us is pure evil and certainly not born evil. Unless there hasn't been some very weird mutation in our DNA recently, I think we are made to hate and made extremist/fanatics due to social circumstances.  
> The reason I gave Jack a background in an attack similar to the one in Stockholm is because I saw a photo of a fireman who was sitting against a wall at Drottninggatan with his face in one hand and his helmet in the other, like everything had just hit him. I thought Jack might do something like that as well. I might not be ready to say the terrorist in Stockholm's name yet, but I refuse to demonise him.

Phryne reread Jack's email twice. She was all too familiar with the truck incident he was talking about. She had not been in the country at the time, but that was the accident where Daisy had been killed. Phryne sighed heavily. She thought about Mac. Daisy had been her girlfriend for many years. They had met as they had met as they studied medicine together and had both been so happy. Mac was devastated, by her death. Especially since she herself had to work at the hospital Daisy had been brought to at the time. It was all such a tragic experience. Phryne knew Daisy's parents had never approved of their relationship and Mac had been even more hurt when she had been degraded as "friend" at the funeral.

"Oh Jack!" Phryne breathed out. She did not think he was too sensitive to be a cop. On the contrary, his compassion and empathy made him the best cop she had ever met.

It was so typical of him to blame himself for all of it and she wondered how much Rosie really had tried or understood about Jack's issues. She did not really seem like a sensitive person. Phryne shook the judgemental thought out of her head. She had only met Jack's ex-wife once and only for a couple of minutes. She could not judge the woman just because she felt sorry for Jack. Judging other people, especially other women, was not her thing. And Jack must have loved this woman once and based on his reaction to meeting her at Guy's party, he still held some

She thought about Jack. He was very sensitive, but did not seem to be comfortable showing his emotions to others. She wondered if the divorce had made it all worse for him. How could she help him? She thought it might be easier if she told him it was her that he spilled out all his inner feelings for. But that would probably make him retreat into himself. Just like he had done after their kiss. If only he would not blame himself for everything. She had seen pictures from the truck incident. They were gruesome. It was no wonder he had reacted the way he did. No wonder he suffered mentally because of the things he must have seen at the site. Depression and PTSD are hard for everyone involved and both diagnosis could completely change a person. She thought about Rosie again. If Jack had changed, but not her, there really was no wonder that they fell apart and got a divorce. Her relationship to René had been similar. She changed, but not him and he could not handle the fact that she did. She wanted freedom. He wanted control. No wonder it had all ended the way it did.

Jack... What did she really want with him? She had told Lin that he was "strictly buisness", but that did no really feel true. She dreamt about him while she was asleep and he was never far from her mind when she was awake. She normally kept men at arms-length. After René, she did not quite like dealing with the feelings they might awaken inside her if she got to know them better. It was easier to keep them just as bed-fellows. Jack was different. He was a never-ending source of mystery. She felt all giddy when he rewarded her with small pieces of himself. She had told Dot about it the other day and Dot had gone all romantic, saying she was falling for the quiet Inspector. She sighed and put two fingers above the bloodvessels on her wrist. Her pulse was completely normal. Even though she was thinking about him. Were you not supposed to be feeling it inside your body when you were falling in love with someone? But he was all handsome and nice and that kiss... She really wanted to find out what he was like in bed. The passion in that kiss was promising of an equal passionate lover. The problem was that she felt sure he would not give in to her for just one night and was she ready to have him for longer?


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a few chapters left now...
> 
> Sorry for the delay in updates. But a trip to Göteborg, the Vikings and the documentation of an archaeological excavation have kept me busy.

"I've got an idea."

Jack looked up as the now so familiar woman stormed into his office. His dreams had become even more vivid after their heated kiss and she was constantly in his thoughts throughout the day now as well. Like his body had got a taste of what it could be and now wanted to experience it again. He blinked hard and let the emotion-less mask he usually wore on a case so as not to show his own thoughts and feelings fall into place. It would not do to have her even suspect that she was anything to him. His poor heart would not be able to handle given her a chance to have her way with him.

"Are you not going to say anything?" she inquired almost timidly, sitting down in his visitor's chair for once.

"Does it matter what I think?" he sighed.

"Jack..."

"Just go on and tell me!" he closed his eyes hard again. He knew he had sounded too frustrated.

Miss Fisher looked at him with an expression he would have described as tender if it would have been given to him by someone else.

"I read through the email correspondence between John Andrews and Murdoch Foyle and you really should have someone going through what the prisoners writes, because some of it was horrible. He plans crime from the prison!"

"So you're hear complaining about the prison guards and/or the police?" he sighed.

"No Jack! I'm sure they do their best. What I did find out is that they seem to have been discussing Dot a great deal. Foyle told Andrews to take her to this F person. Of course we know that planned failed, so I thought it was about time it did. I spoke to Dot and she is willing to play decoy for us and I have had a friend hack into Foyle's email account sending this F an email saying Dot will meet him at the corner of the laneway near Johnson's hatters at 7 tomorrow morning, wearing a red rose."

"This is very risky Phryne..."

"It's the only way we got. Of course I will be close by making sure nothing happens to her."

"I'm guessing since there is nothing I can do to stop this, I might as well help you", he sighed again. He did not like risking Dot's safety, but according to Miss Fisher, she had volunteered. He sighed again as the woman rose from the chair and smiled at him and started walking out of his office.

"You don't have to worry Jack dear", she said stopping at the door and turning around to him. "Look at it like an adventure. I promise I won't let anything happen to Dot."

With a last smile, she was off leaving a smell of French perfume behind. A smell he knew would linger into his dreams that night as well.

 


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's note

I'm sorry this is not an update, but I would like to hear your opinion on it.

I still have lots to do in real life, so I probably won't have so much time until the end of this month to write more, but I have been thinking about how to move forwards.

The easiest would probably be to just finish it, but rereading it, I am thinking about rewriting it entirely and develop the chapters I have already written.

What do you think?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have long had a dream to write a real book series about the Vasa dynasty that ruled Sweden in the 16th and 17th century. It is in Swedish, but for scruggzi, I translated some scenes into English. I know you don't know the characters, but feel free to read those scenes while I decide how to deal with Scribbling Strangers.  
> <http://archiveofourown.org/works/13820394/chapters/31782264>


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